Beware Greeksespecially ones bearing gifts
by SageK
Summary: The first fic I ever put online! I wrote it in 1999 and published it on Heliopolis...just posting again for kicks!


Wintry winds cut through the ice cavern, howling eerily in their high voices. The stone walls had long ago frozen over and were covered by a foot of clear ice. Around the cavern, drifts of snow gathered wherever the winds deposited them, some as deep as five feet. Huge ice encrusted stalactites hung precariously from the ceiling, threatening to fall at the slightest sound or movement.

For years the icy world lay abandoned, untouched by human or alien. But they had been there once, as was evident through the structures they left behind, and were returning. By the far wall of the cavern a large ring spun to life, glowing edges and a rippling blue pool where nothing had been.

It was a Stargate, a marvel of technology, capable of opening a stable wormhole over vast distances. No one knew who had invented the Stargates, but they were most often used by the Gao'uld's, a race that conquered and terrorized all those around them. The Gao'uld's placed thousands of Stargates on thousands of worlds, hoping and succeeding to expand the iron hand of their empire.

One of the worlds they attempted to subjugate was Earth, succeeding to do so for many years. The Gao'uld's found humans to be excellent slaves as well as an ideal host race for their parasitic beings. One particularly powerful Gao'uld took on the persona of Ra, the Egyptian Sun-God and used the peoples fear of him to his advantage. Over his centuries of tyranny, millions of humans were taken from Earth to be used as slave labor throughout the galaxy. Nothing could stop them, or so the Gao'uld thought.

Despite the oppression, the ancient Egyptians were a hearty people and rebelled against the tyrannical aliens. Proving their races strength, the humans won the revolt, driving Ra and his associates back into the Stargate, and buried the Stargate, preventing the aliens return.

Years past and the Stargate was forgotten, only to be rediscovered and eventually fall into the hands of the United States Military. At a secret government facility at Creek Mountain, Colorado, a team of scientists and scholars worked for two years in an attempt to unlock the secret of the Stargate. No progress was made.

Then Katherine Langford, daughter of the Archaeologist who re-discovered the Stargate and head of the project, recruited Doctor Daniel Jackson, an Egyptologist cast out of academia for his radical theories about history.

Broke and having little other choice, Daniel accepted a job translating for the Military, a task he found odd but rewarding. It took only two weeks for his quick, brilliant mind to wrap itself around the project that needed his magic touch. The symbols everyone had assumed were words were in fact star constellations, specifically a group of constellations

showing a map to another world.

Using Daniel's discovery, the 'Gate was activated and a team, consisting of a somewhat suicidal Colonel Jack O'Neill, several gung-ho commandos and one runny nosed Egyptologist, went through. On the other side of the 'Gate, on the planet Abydos, they discovered a village of humans still living under Ra's rule. Quite by accident, Daniel and the Marines became embroiled in the Abydian's conflict, eventually accepting the

responsibility of helping them. Sure they were facing their deaths, Colonel O'Neil sent a nuclear weapon, meant for use on the Stargate, onto Ra's ship, killing the despot.

Daniel, O'Neill and the other soldiers were celebrated as heroes upon returning to the Abydian village. So taken with the People was Daniel, who decided to remain on the alien world. As soon as the soldiers left he buried the Stargate for many months, while Colonel O'Neill reported to his superiors that Abydos was nuked into oblivion.

About a year later, Gao'uld's came through the Earth Stargate and attacked. General Hammond was, to say the least, displeased. Calling in a retired Jack O'Neill, the General milked the truth from the man by threatening to send a powerful nuclear device to Abydos. Reactivated, O'Neill's led a team through the 'Gate, intent on finding the source of this new threat.

What they found was the Abydian people thriving, their knowledge and understanding of the Stargate, as well as their 'Gods' much advanced through Daniel's lessons. The young Egyptologist had been thrilled to see the soldiers, many of whom he knew from his previous dealing with the Stargate Project on Earth, and was eager to show them all he had discovered.

In a chamber full of Stargate coordinates, Daniel argued with Captain Samantha Carter, an astrophysicist, insisting that there had to be thousands of Stargates. Carter argued the opposing viewpoint, but after a short discussion realized Daniel had a valid point based in scientific fact. Both wearing happy expressions, the two scientists explained what they had concluded to O'Neill, in what Carter called 'Laymen's terms'.

According to Carter, her team had plugged hundreds of permutations into the Earth Gate and never once established contact. According to the expanding universe theory, due to years of cosmic drift, this was to be expected. With Daniel's map as a base they cold compensate for the drift and almost certainly make the Earth Gate work.

Unfortunately, while they were in the chamber, the Gao'uld attacked the camp and kidnapped Daniel's wife, Sha're, and her brother, Skarra.

Discovering this, Daniel agreed to return to Earth with O'Neill, hoping to rescue his wife and brother-in-law with the aid of the U.S. Military.

Following the Gao'uld to their world of Chu'lak, home of the Ja'fa, Daniel, O'Neill and Carter were captured. Much to their dismay they discovered that both Sha're and Skarra had been implanted with infant Gao'uld's, making them the enemy. The Ja'fa, the Gao'uld's guards, were ordered to kill all of the helpless prisoners who had not been

implanted. O'Neill saw hesitation on the face of one Ja'fa and asked the man to do what he knew was right.

The Ja'fa, whose name was Teal'c, helped the prisoners to escape and fled with them back to Earth. Once there, O'Neill spoke with General Hammond and got Teal'c assigned to his team, SG-1, which was designated to explore the worlds now within the reach of the Stargate.

SG-1. A fugitive alien with a Gao'uld in his belly, fighting for his peoples freedom with the aid of a people totally alien to him, but in whom he finds kindred souls. An astrophysicist and warrior with a need to be accepted in a predominantly male Military. A scholar with a gentle soul and an amazing intellect, searching constantly for his lost love.

Their colonel, a man still tortured by the death of his son, healing slowly with the help of his friends and comrades. The best and the brightest of the Stargate teams.

Stepping away from the Stargate these four people gazed around the ice cavern in discomfort. this world was obviously not going to be a popular tourist attraction when, or if, People ever began using the Stargate for commercial reasons. Colonel Jack O'Neill looked around and raised a brow in the general direction of the rest of his team. "Not exactly a warm and friendly welcome," he muttered sarcastically. Just what I wanted,

more frostbite. Happy day.

The group was suited in cold weather gear, prepared for the climate. They were also prepared to defend themselves should that prove necessary.

Teal'c carried his Gao'uld staff weapon, a more effective armament for fighting his own people than any Earth technology. O'Neill and Carter each carried an M-16 with detachable grenade launchers. When handing out the weapons, O'Neill had shuddered at the thought of Jackson traipsing around with an M-16 and had opted to give the doctor a specially modified Colt automatic.

"Oh come on, Jack. It's not that bad," Daniel responded, placing his black-gloved hands on his hips as he did a visual survey of the room. "At least it doesn't smell like a sewage treatment plant. Now, let's see the local sights."

Sam Carter snorted at the young Egyptologist and said, "Yeah? You wouldn't be saying that if you had been stuck in the last ice cavern." You didn't almost watch someone die of hypothermia. Carter shivered and wrapped her arms around herself in an attempt to ward off the cold. It was obvious both she and O'Neill were recalling the time they had been

stranded in Antarctica. I do not want to be here!

From his position by the tunnels entrance, Teal'c said, "The Gao'uld have not been here for many years."

Someday that mouth of his is gonna get him in trouble. The guy just talks way to much, Jack thought. Deciding it was time to get down to business, O'Neill motioned to his comrades and said, "Okay, people, you know the drill. Teal'c, you're with me. We'll set a one kilometer perimeter down this tunnel. Carter, Jackson..........Ah, hell! You know what you're supposed to do." At least, I hope you do, because I really don't have a clue.

Carter shot a scowl at O'Neill, while Daniel, looking more amused than offended, wandered off toward the ice walls. Before departing down the tunnel with Teal'c, O'Neill motioned to Carter, signaling her to watch the accident prone Egyptologist. Let's try to make it off of this world with him intact.

Taking a few necessary scans, Carter deemed the world safe enough, if uncomfortably cold. She could feel the warmth being leeched from her exposed skin and prayed they wouldn't have to stay for long. Damn it! I can't feel my fingers.

Daniel crouched by a wall several feet away from her, his nose practically touching the icy surface. Despite the cold, he was healthy and happy with red, rosy cheeks and naturally dark lips that retained their color. His big blue eyes were wide behind his glasses, which, between the heat of his skin and the chill of the air, had begun to fog.

_There's something under here, I feel it._

Curious as to what fascinated the young man, Carter stood above him and peered down at the icy surface. Behind a foot of ice, she saw what looked like hieroglyphics. She doubted, however, that even Daniel could decipher the obscured 'glyphs.

The young man continued to frown at the wall, pressing the fingertips of his gloved hands first to the ice then raised them to scrub at his glasses.

"I think if we could melt the ice a little, I could read it," Daniel murmured, again rubbing his palm over thewall. "Do you think we could....."

His voice trailed off and he glanced up at the ceiling. Before Carter could ask what he was looking at, she heard a rumbling all around her. A stalactite fell from the roof, landing only a few feet from the two humans, shattering explosively on impact.

Others soon followed, causing Carter to push against the wall beside Daniel for protection. Surprisingly, Daniel provided just that, pulling Carter behind him so that her body was protected on either side by his torso or the ice wall. He was obviously acting out of some, normally well suppressed, male protective instinct.

On another, more cerebral, level, he was obviously scared. He pushed his body against Carter's as the ceiling seemed to fall in around them. The roar became so loud, Carter was sure their ear drums were going to burst.

_We're gonna die _she thought After all we've been through, a cave in is going to kill us. Through the noise and fear, she more felt than heard Daniel hiss softly and recoil as if shot. He remained with her, though, as he faced what he surely believed would be his demise.

Then, as suddenly as the cave in began, it ended.

Instantly, Daniel eased his weight off of Sam, stepping forward to look around. The once smooth floor was covered with jagged chunks of rock and ice, which had formerly hung from the ceiling. Despite the shock and surprise at what had just happened, Carter saw fear blaze in the young man's eyes as he fumbled for his radio. His actions jump-started her own, as her mind flashed through several horrible scenarios. If O'Neill and T'elc hadn't found an overhang to crouch under when the cave in occurred...... Well, she didn't dare think what might have happened.

Daniel managed to work his cold, numb fingers around his radio at the same instant Carter did. Triggering them in tandem, they said, "Colonel! Jack! Teal'c!"

After a moment, Teal'c's voice responded, "We are alive. The colonel is unconscious. I shall return with him to the StarGate."

"Good," Carter replied, then glanced at Daniel who nodded, signaling that he was all right. Well, the colonel did want me to keep Daniel out of trouble.

"I'll get the Gate ready," he said, managing a few steps before tumbling to the ground. Reaching down, Carter pulled the doctor to his feet and steadied him. As Daniel continued his painfully slow progress, Carter looked down at the spot where he had fallen. A smudge of bright red blood stained the ice, obviously in the shape of a hand print. Nearby, a larger patch of the bodily fluid stood out vibrantly against the snow.

"Daniel," Carter asked quietly, approaching the young man who hugged one arm around his middle in obvious discomfort. "How bad is it?"

"Not to bad," Daniel murmured in response. Carter looked at the blood stains on his uniform and hoped he was right.

A short time later, Carter and Teal'c stood in the trauma room outside of the intensive care ward of the Stargate compound. Inside the ICU, O'Neill lay on a bed, attached to a half-dozen tubes and machines. Dr. Fraser said he would recover, but it would take time and rest, both of which the colonel would attempt to argue his way out of when he regained consciousness.

For the moment, however, O'Neill was being a model patient. The same could not be said for Daniel, as he lay on a bed in the trauma room, stripped of his shirt and jacket, receiving medical care.

Carter had flinched when the doctors had cut the T-shirt off of him, revealing a long, deep gash stretching from his short ribs on the right over to the left side of his waist above the hip. Blood slowly oozed from the wound, though its flow was significantly less than it had been earlier.

Thank God for small favors.

Fraser and one of her assistants now bent over Daniel's flat stomach, ignoring his complaints about the IV in his arm, as well as his hisses as they worked, stitching the long wound. Fortunately for Daniel, the muscles had sustained no serious damage and, if he held still long enough for Fraser to finish stitching him up, he would be back to normal

in no time.

Resignedly, the young man dropped his head back onto his pillows and looked up at Carter. His skin was had a sickly pallor to it and his usually vibrant eyes were clouded by shock. "How's Jack doing?" he asked thickly, then flinched and scowled down at his stomach. "I thought that shot was supposed to numb everything down there."

The two doctors continued to ignore Daniel's complaints, so Carter said, "The colonel will be fine, but we're going to be grounded for a while."

And a good thing too. You look like death warmed over.

"Great," Daniel muttered in return, closing his eyes in a weird mixture of relief and pain.

Carter watched as her friend's face smoothed slightly and his lips parted.

His soft hair clung to his forehead in sweat-dampened curls. Something about Daniel always attracted children and young women, and now Carter realized exactly what that was. He was gently handsome, with a smooth, round face that was almost child-like in sleep. Oh, wouldn't those girls that giggle about him in the locker room envy me now.

Fraser sighed in relief and met Carter's eyes, saying, "Finally, the sedative worked."

"You drugged him?" Teal'c asked from where he had stood quietly for some time. When he had come to Earth, he had been under the impression that they were a people who did not have to resort to chemical manipulations to control their subordinates.

Guiltily, Fraser shrugged. "It's for his own good," she insisted. "You and I both know that if he was awake, Hammond would have him running around on some foolish project and he'd be back down here in an hour with torn stitches. Call it preventative medicine."

Groaning, Carter turned to Teal'c. "That reminds me, we have to go face the music," she said. Hammond will be even madder than usual, since Jack got hurt instead of just Daniel. That throws off our whole defense scheme that we use when Daniel gets himself hurt on a mission.

"Music?" Teal'c asked questioningly. Another odd Earth custom?

""Yeah," Carter sighed. "The general's gonna use our heads as drums when he finds out about this little disaster of a mission."

A bright light hung over Daniel's head, far too close for his comfort. In fact, he realized he was seeing the diffuse light through the delicate pink tissues of his eyelids.

"Move the light," he muttered, then groaned as he heard his semi-drugged, groggy voice. Instead of uttering the simple comment, what came out of his mouth sounded like, "Mmphfalyt."

Immediately, he realized his mistake, for a sugary voice said, "Oh, Doctor Jackson, you're awake. How are you feeling?" Oh shit, he thought, unable to contain a groan of distaste. Fortunately, Nurse Julie James mistook it for an offshoot of his injuries. After all, she couldn't very well have a crush on a man that groaned at the sight of her. Not that he really disliked her, but her bubbly, fawning personality got on his nerves.

"Now, Dr. Jackson, you just lie still and I'll check on you. Dr. Fraser's taking a nap, but she'll surely be up to check on you soon. I've just got to take down your blanket to look at your side.…"

Cracking an eye, Daniel looked up into her cherubic pink face. The look of concentration in her blue eyes was a hell of a lot more intent than the job called for. With a frustrated groan, he lay his head back and decided to get out of the infirmary as soon as possible, even if it meant intentionally being the awful patient Janet always complained he

was.

The next morning, Daniel was released from observation, not because he had made a remarkable recovery, but because Fraser held a bone deep certainty that detaining him any longer would have resulted in disaster. Either she would have killed the young scientist, or he would have torn the infirmary apart in stir-crazy frustration. It also occurred to her

that if, perhaps, Daniel discovered what it was like without a medical staff attending to his injuries then maybe, just maybe, he might be a little more cooperative the next time he came through the med-bay.

Once released, Daniel did indeed discover that everyday maneuvering without moving his torso was quite difficult. Getting his chinos on had been a challenge, but, after much cursing and contorting, he had gotten them up. The shirt was another story all together. After several failed attempts to raise his arms, Daniel placed his T-shirt on the bench and

concentrated on the blue button-down he normally wore over it.

Sam Carter strolled into the locker room as he stood there glaring at his shirts. "Hey, Daniel," she called cheerily, as she thought, Oh, he still looks like death warmed over. "How are you feeling?"

Truth is, I feel pretty good, but look like someone that's been hit by a Gao'uld battleship. Fraser's assistant had done a number on him, binding his abdomen with enough gauze to stretch from Earth to Abydos the moment he had exited the shower. "I'm okay," he replied honestly, then shook his fingers at his shirt. "I've been reduced to being unable to dress

myself, but okay."

Carter laughed and reached over to grab his T-shirt. He must be so annoyed. Looking Daniel up and down, she said, "Can't be all that different from dressing my nephew."

"I suppose not," Daniel agreed sarcastically, as, with Carter's assistance, he got his arms into the sleeves of the Tee, then let her pull it over his head and down his body. At his waist, Carter noticed that his pants were low slung and loose, lazily belted on his hips.

Usually, Daniel belted his pants precisely at the waist in the classic style. His injury, Carter surmised, prevented him from doing this.

But, injury or no, Daniel was still Daniel. As soon as his shirt was on, he began fussily tucking it in. Carter watched him neatly tuck and smooth the shirt, making sure it was perfectly done. After several minutes, she got him into his button-down and watched in amazement as he began the process of tucking and smoothing all over again. Finally, Sam

laughed and said, "Daniel, has anyone ever told you that you act like you have an obsessive-compulsive disorder?"

Startled, an almost childlike expression of shock and surprise crossed Daniel's face, before being replaced by a rueful smile. "Well, I never was before Abydos," he laughed. "But you have to tuck in there or risk getting half the desert down your pants."

Carter returned his smile and said, "Well, as long as you have a good reason!"

Finally fully dressed, Daniel looked up at Carter questioningly. "What are we supposed to do until Jack gets better?" he asked as he lifted his arms to painfully run a comb through his hair. Do I get to play teacher to another group of those pre-pubescent-would-be-after-their-voices-change Archaeologists of Hammonds?

Carter shrugged and replied, "Unless we get orders otherwise, we can do whatever we want. Go home or to town, maybe get some real food." I forget he's not real military until he says things like that.

"Sounds pretty good," the young Egyptologist said. "Want to go to town for the day?" How long has it been since I've gone out on the town?

If you weren't married, Doctor Jackson, I'd almost think you were asking me on a date, Carter thought fancifully, but said aloud, "Why not? It's been quite a while since I've had a nice meal, and to have such a charming escort......... How on Earth could I refuse?"

Smiling at her little joke, Daniel held out his arm as best he could and tipped his head. As they walked form the room, Carter took his arm and grinned back. Yes indeed, I would think it was a date.

Once in the hall a voice halted their progress. "Captain Carter. Doctor Jackson. Just the two people I was looking for," General Hammond called, striding down the hall. "I have a special assignment for you."

Carter and Daniel exchanged a glance before replying, "Of course, sir."

Hammond nodded at their response and cleared his throat. "Dr. Fraser has informed me that Colonel O'Neill will be on medical leave for some time, during which SG-1 will remain on Earth. I've already spoken with Teal'c, and he's agreed to stay here to train other teams in the use of Gao'uld weapons. You two are going to Washington."

Surprise registered on both young faces and Jackson asked, "D.C.?"

Carter elbowed him gently, then felt bad when he flinched. Ooops! Gotta avoid doing that to him. "When do we leave?" she asked aloud, knowing it was the response Hammond expected.

"Now," the general replied, pointing toward the elevator. "Everything you'll need will be waiting for you. This evening you will attend a function and entertain the Joint Chiefs. Briefing packets will be provided to you en route."

"What?" Daniel exclaimed as they hustled toward the elevator. "Sir, I'm really not qualified to...." I'm an archaeologist, for Christ's sake, not a diplomat or soldier!

"Of course you are, Doctor," Hammond interrupted. "It's all part of the job."

"When I said I wanted to get off the base and get a nice meal, this isn't what I had in mind!" Sam shouted to Daniel, shaking her head in disgust.

No way there's going to be a nice meal on this flight.

Inside the no-frills transport plane, Carter looked around the sharply shadowed interior, which was lit from behind and below by transparent cargo doors. Other passengers--air force offices and enlisted men--sat in stiff backed chairs.

None of them seemed disturbed to be traveling in a non-pressurized, non-soundproofed jet, but then again, they were military personnel. You had to be tough to be in the military.

Doctor Daniel Jackson, Egyptologist, linguist, and all around sweet guy, was not a soldier. The moment the hulking transport plane had begun to lurch along, lumbering into motion like a behemoth, the young doctor's face had gone from its normal pinkish hue to a rather sickly combination of pastiness and green. Each time he sneezed it was obvious he was praying he wouldn't vomit as well.

"Why couldn't we have waited a few hours and flown commercial?" he moaned, attempting to ignore the cold sweat upon his brow. Please, Sam, if the whole flight's going to be this bad, help me get out of this seat and find me a corner to die in.

Carter watched her friend sympathetically as he gagged and slumped against the harness that held him in his seat. He looks absolutely horrible, Sam thought and realized it was the first time she had ever really seen the young doctor in such a state. Normally, Daniel was neat and clean, face scrubbed pink, longish hair fluffed around his head.

Now, his soft brown hair was damp with perspiration, his skin a sickly shade of green and his eyes were unfocused. If Jack was here, he'd be teasing Daniel mercilessly and Teal'c would be studying him as though he was under a microscope, Sam thought. She supposed it was just as well that the other two men had not come along, Jack because of his injuries

and Teal'c because it was to much of a security risk. At least, Carter thought, patting Daniel's back gently, he can suffer the trip to D.C. in relative peace.

At 1800 hours, Air Force Captain Samantha Carter arrived at Doctor Daniel Jackson's room. Arriving in Washington five hours earlier, they had discovered that the government had put them up at The Watergate Hotel. The fact that they had not been sent to military barracks was enough to tell both Carter and Jackson that someone was trying to be

discreet about their presence.

At the hotel, the found that their rooms were stocked with their personal preferences of shampoo, toiletries and clothing, as well as personal laptops with direct lines to the Stargate compound. After checking out their rooms, Daniel retired to his, obviously in need of a nap after their long flight.

At Carter's knock, Daniel called, "Come in." Sam entered the room, which was a mirror image of her own, but for the rumpled, slept-on bed.

"You ready?" she asked, then raised her brows at her friend and thought, Oh, he would have to look that good, wouldn't he. In contrast to her stiff dress uniform, Daniel wore a sleek black tux that looked as though it had been tailored for him. Something about the handsome doctor looked right in the fancy suit.

Daniel turned to Carter and smiled broadly. His nap had done wonders for his mood. "You bet, Sam," he replied. "Hey, you look great!" You really, really do. No! You're not allowed to think that. You are a married man, Daniel chided himself.

A light blush diffused itself across her features as Sam replied, "Thanks, so do you. I mean, you even got the tie right."

"Actually, I didn't," Daniel admitted, laughing as he shrugged into a long, black overcoat, then held hers out for her. His movements still spoke of the pain in his side, so Carter hurried to slip into her coat. "I was going to ask you to help me, but I met a nice young lady in the hall and she assisted me."

Sam raised a speculative brow at him and said, "Oh, really? And this young lady also gave you...?"

Now it was Daniel's turn to blush. "Her name and room number," he replied, pointing to a piece of paper on the desk. "Lily."

Can't blame the girl for trying, Carter thought, impressed by her forwardness. When someone looks as suave in a tux as Daniel, a girl has to try. "Well, come on 007. Time to go," she laughed, clasping Daniel's arm.

"The car's waiting."

"After you, M," he murmured in response, affecting a British accent for a moment. As he hoped, Carter laughed as they strolled down the hall.

The reception Carter and Jackson were to attend was being held at The White House. As the SG-1 officers strolled past the large white doors and matching Secret Service agents, Daniel swallowed, gazing about in awe. "Is it too late to say I want to stay at the hotel?" he whispered into Carter's ear.

"Don't worry, Daniel," Carter said in return, squeezing his arm gently.

The tension he felt was obvious in his taut muscles, though Carter was unsure what unnerved Daniel more; the intimidating complex that was the heavily guarded White House, or the prospect of having to deal with the hard nosed bureaucrats that resided inside of it. I suspect it's the latter, she thought as they finally made their entrance. "If worse comes to worse, I'll rescue you!"

Holding open the door, Daniel grinned at her. "I know you will," he said.

"Thanks in advance."

Sam patted his arm and replied, "Feel free to return the favor in kind."

Looking as though he was about to answer her, Daniel was interrupted by a cheerful young voice saying, "May I take your coats?"

Daniel turned and saw a woman standing behind him, obviously having just emerged from a side room. She wore black slacks and vest over a white blouse. The smile that was plastered across her face was one that said she had a job where false politeness was a prerequisite, yet the appraising eye she cast at Daniel said that sometimes her job had

advantages.

Look on, honey, Carter thought as Daniel helped her with her jacket before sliding stiffly out of his own. She then watched as Jackson's innate gentlemanly manner shone forth. He smiled politely at the girl and said, "Thank you, Ms....."

The girl blinked at him twice and the realized that he wanted to know her name. It seemed that most guests at The White House didn't care enough to ask the name of the girl who took their coats. "I'm Audrey, Mr.....," she replied with a smile, taking the coats from his arm.

"Jackson. Doctor Daniel Jackson," the Egyptologist replied. "And this is Captain Samantha Carter."

"Nice to meet you, Audrey," Sam said, hoping to draw the younger woman's gaze off Daniel. After all, he was her date, if only for the evening.

"Has anyone else arrived already?"

Audrey nodded vigorously. "Yes, Captain," she answered quickly. "I believe most of the guests have arrived already. It'd be best for you two to make your entrance now before Mr. Clinton makes his."

"Thanks again," Daniel told her. Audrey blushed faintly and retreated from the room. People obviously never paid the poor girl any attention.

Slipping her arm through her escort's, Sam said, "Shall we?"

With a hesitant nod, Daniel turned toward the imposing doorway and murmured, "'Abandon hope all ye who enter here' seems unfortunately appropriate."

Several hours later, Sam Carter stood by a potted plant, utterly drained.

Hours of conversing with desk-bound, public-opinion-wary Joint Chiefs was much more taxing than she had anticipated, compounded only by the fact that she was suffering from a bout of jet lag.

Annoyingly, Daniel seemed to feel no ill affects from the trip. Looking as chipper and handsome as ever, the Egyptologist happily discussed an opera with the Secretary of Defense and his wife. Apparently they had been to see a production of Verdi's Egyptian opera, Aida, the night before, while Daniel had seen a show years ago in Los Angeles. The secretary himself seemed to have only passing interest in the conversation, leaving the actual discussion up to his wife and Daniel.

Since Carter had no interest in opera, she politely excused herself and stole a moment of silence. Closing her eyes to savor the relative solitude that the plants offered, she did not notice anyone approaching until a beefy hand fell onto her shoulder.

"Samantha Carter!" a loud, all to familiar, voice boomed. "I thought that was you."

Forcing another smile onto her face, Sam turned to greet her guest. I'm starting to understand what Audrey feels like. "Hello, Terry. It's been a long time," she managed to spit out. Terrance Williams--make that Colonel Terrance William's--was the man Sam most regretted becoming involved with (And coming from Sam Carter, the woman whose ex-fiancee set himself up as a god-like figure on a primitive planet, that was a pretty big insult).

"Too long," Terry said, moving to hug her.

Carter quickly stepped out of his reach and proffered her hand. He was, after all, a colonel, so protocol required she treat him with respect.

"How have you been?" she asked, attempting to free her hand from his sweaty grasp.

Tightening his grip, the man grinned broadly. "Oh, you know I'm always fine," he drawled. "Seeing a couple of lovely ladies, non-comm ladies.

Can't risk an office romance, what with all these new harassment laws."

Preparing to wrench her hand free, Carter opened her mouth, but Terry continued. "So, darlin'...you seeing anyone special?"

Oh, no, Sam groaned mentally. He can't be thinking...Well, it is Terry, so yes, he could be. Aloud she stammered, "Well, actually...."

"Sam!" Daniel interrupted her, appearing from thin air on her right. He draped an arm around her shoulders and placed a kiss on her cheek. "Sorry I took so long, but you know I lose track of time when engaged in an academic discussion."

A smile creeping across her face, Sam turned to beam at Daniel. He must have overheard our conversation and decided to come to the rescue, she thought, but said, "Terry, I'd like you to meet Doctor Daniel Jackson, my....close friend.

Daniel, this is Colonel Terrance Williams."

Daniel looked Terry in the eye and stuck out his hand. "Nice to meet you, Colonel," the young man said politely.

Terry glowered down at Daniel (quite a feat, considering Jackson had a good inch and a half on him), and demanded, "What is your rank, soldier?

Why aren't you in uniform?"

Daniel yanked his hand back as though he had been burned, while Carter said, "Daniel's not an officer or an enlisted man. He's a scholar."

"A scholar," Terry sneered, drawing his mouth into a vicious scowl. "Oh, Sam, how low you have sunk. I would have at least expected you to latch onto one of those think tank geeks."

Before Sam could answer, Daniel bristled and said, "Pardon me, but did I leave the area?" When Terry stared at him disdainfully, Daniel continued, "Because the last I checked it was considered ignorant and uncouth to talk about someone in a derogatory manner while said person was within earshot."

"Hey!" the man snapped. "I'm not stupid and I got plenty of couth! Now, I've had about enough of this pansy style of fighting, so let's take it outside."

Staring at Terry, Sam thought, Oh, my God! Something is seriously wrong with him. Terry extended a finger and pointed to the door. He's going to kill Daniel if I don't do something.

Daniel looked at Terry's extended finger for a moment and then smiled softly. "I pity you," he said calmly, as serene as a Buddah. Internally he kicked himself, What the hell are you doing antagonizing an obviously disturbed individual! Are you insane?

Well, obviously slightly, since I'm referring to myself in the second person....but still, pissing Godzilla over there off was a stupid thing for even me to do! At least he's not harassing Sam anymore.

"What!" Terry roared, rushing into Daniel's face. His shout drew stares from around the room and the music came to a screeching halt.

In for a penny, in for a pound. With Terry standing on top of him, Daniel could speak so softly that only Terry, and maybe Sam, could hear him. "I said I pity you," he whispered. "I pity anyone who is not secure enough in his own masculinity to settle a disagreement in any other way than petty insults and fisticuffs, but, if you need to behave like a Paleolithic misanthrope in order to prove something to yourself, be my guest."

It took a moment for Terry to even figure out that Daniel had insulted him, but when he did, he reacted in the most predictable of manners. He raised a fist.

"Colonel Williams!"

Terry froze as his superior, the Secretary of Defense, the man whose wife Daniel had chatted with for over an hour, shouted his name. Taking a breath, he lowered his fist and realized the man would not be happy with him. Striking out at a civilian, especially one that you outweighed by fifty pounds, was rarely smiled upon. Snapping to attention, Terry

said, "Sir, yes sir!"

As the secretary approached, Daniel moved to stand by Sam, who clutched at his arm, looking distinctly nauseous. Fortunately, they were not the focal point of the angry man's wrath. "Colonel," he said, using the clipped tone that he usually reserved for dealing with recalcitrant Republican senators.

"I would like to speak with you in the hall. Now!"

"Sir, yes sir!" Wilson snapped, certain that he was going to be assigned to guard Spot for the next couple of years. Without another glance at Jackson or Carter, he marched away in the wake of his irate boss.

Carter watched them leave and felt a wondrous sensation of relief flood over her as they did. Why did I turn to mush when he got angry? she wondered, glancing at her trembling hands. No. I'm not going to let him get to me!

Stroking Sam's hand, Daniel looked at her drawn face. I wonder if it's lack of sleep, or that obnoxious man? Whatever it is, she won't want to leave because of it, so it's time to be sneaky. Faking a yawn, he said, "Do you think we could cut out early, Sam? I don't think we'd be missed."

Wearing an expression similar to that of a dear trapped in a trucks headlights, Sam nodded slowly. Hugging his arm tighter, she said, "Let's go."

"Oh my God! That was awful!" Sam groaned, collapsing onto her bed as Daniel closed the door. Too wired to sleep immediately, the pair decided that a night of ice cream and old movies was exactly what the doctor ordered. In fact, seeing as how both occupants of the room had earned the salutation doctor, it was what two doctors ordered.

Moving stiffly, Daniel shrugged out of his jacket and let it drop to his hands. Carefully, he draped it over the back of the rooms chair, then dropped into the seat, holding his pajamas in his lap. Sam had insisted that he get his pajamas so she could inspect his bandages. Utterly drained, he let his head loll back so that he stared at the ceiling.

"How can a person be exhausted and hyper all at once? Shouldn't that be physically impossible?" he asked rhetorically.

As she rose from the bed and grabbed her own pajamas, Carter replied, "I have no idea."

By the time Daniel realized that she had replied to his question, Sam had entered the bathroom. He laughed softly, then glanced toward the bathroom.

She had left the door slightly ajar, so he was fairly certain she could still hear him.

Removing his tie and cummerbund, Daniel loosened the collar of his dress shirt. Whatever anyone thought about his fastidiousness, he still hated to wear fancy suits. Honestly, he was more at home in a hole in the ground than at a formal dinner. "Hey, Sam," he called tentatively. "Who was that man at The White House? That Colonel Williams?"

Hanging her dress uniform on the door, Sam slid into her pajama shorts and shirt. Silently, she turned the sink on and watched the water run down the drain, trying to focus her thoughts. I can't really tell him about Terry, can I? He wouldn't understand. No man would, but Daniel's not just any man. He's my friend and deserves an explanation because he almost got beaten to a pulp by the jerk in question.

"Terry was the worst mistake in judgment I have ever made." The words slipped past her lips before Sam even knew she was saying them. "We were Lieutenants together and became involved. At first it was great. He was so sweet and kind. I really thought it was love. Then I got a promotion and he got mean. I thought that maybe it was something I had done, but of course it wasn't, so I stayed with him until...until he hit me. I was

to shocked to fight back and...."

A strong hand fell onto her shoulder just as her throat clogged. She flinched, then as another hand reached around her to turn off the faucet, she realized it was Daniel. Turning, she wrapped her arms around his chest and hugged him fiercely, burying her face against her chest. In response, he murmured soft words into her ear and stroked her hair with a gentle hand. No wonder that asshole had such a detrimental effect on her. If I had known this earlier, well I would have done something that would have gotten me beaten within an inch of my life.

Several minutes later, Sam realized that Daniel's shirt was damp under her cheek.

A moment after that, she realized that the dampness had come from her tears. Oddly, she hadn't known she was crying. I can't believe I just told him that! I've never told anyone. But I had to tell him. At least he took it well.

Feeling safe in Daniel's arms, Sam continued with her story. "I left him and got a transfer to the Pentagon. Tonight's the first time I've seen him since then."

"I'm sorry, Sam," Daniel whispered against her hair, stroking her back in reassuring circles. She seemed so small and delicate nestled in his arms, so very far from the rough-and-tumble military persona she tried to present. Gently, he kissed her brow, almost afraid that applying to much pressure would cause her to break.

Lifting her tear stained face to look into Daniel's eyes, Sam said, "Thank you for being here for me."

Those few words said more than any lengthy conversation ever could have.

Placing her hands on Daniel's face, Sam pulled him down to her eye level and kissed his cheeks. A faint blush diffused itself over Daniel's face and he released his hold on Sam.

Smiling faintly, he said, "I'll let you get finished in here."

Sam nodded and said, "Okay." As he stepped from the room, she allowed herself a small smile. "Hey, Daniel! See what's on T.V.."

"I'll order the ice cream, too."

"Triple Chocolate Fudge."

"You know it!"

Still and silent, but for the occasional beeping of one life monitor or another, the infirmary of The Stargate Command Compound was dimmed for the night. Doctor Fraser lay on a cot in her office, reluctant to leave Colonel O'Neill until he woke, but the late hour had forced her to rest.

Teal'c sat in one of the uncomfortable visitors chairs, which he had hauled into the ICU so he could keep watch over his commanding officer.

Sitting under a small light, Teal'c read a texts that he had borrowed from Jackson, who was trying to fill him in on the last few thousand years of Human history. So far, The History of Civilization series by Will and Ariel Durant had proven the most comprehensive. He had, thus far, reached the volume entitled The Reformation, and hoped to finish the series by the end of the year.

Turning the page, he noted that it made a more noticeable rustling noise than usual. Turning the text in his hands to conduct a more thorough inspection of it, he realized that the rustling was not coming from the text. Teal'c looked up and saw that, for the first time in forty-three hours Jack O'Neill was awake.

"Colonel O'Neill, it is good that you are awake," he said, drawing O'Neill's attention. The man had been blinking rather dumbly at the ceiling, but responded to Teal'c's voice. The Ja'fa considered that to be a good sign. "I will get the doctor."

As he rose, Fraser said, "Way ahead of you, Teal'c. I was just getting up to check the monitors."

The doctor entered the room and went to the colonel's bedside. O'Neill was moving his mouth and attempting to wet his dry lips. Looking at the readouts on the monitor by his head, Fraser said, "Teal'c, I think the colonel would appreciate a drink of water."

Pouring a glass, Teal'c moved to hold the drink to O'Neill's mouth. The colonel, however, had no intention of being treated like an invalid. He raised his hands and grasped the glass, gulping the liquid down.

"Hey!" Fraser said sharply, pulling the glass away from him. "Slowly, or you'll shock your stomach."

Once again able to talk, O'Neill studiously ignored the doctor, and asked Teal'c, "What happened?"

Hearing the doctors sigh and grumbled protest, Teal'c decide it was permissible to tell the colonel the situation. "While on PX4759 we were caught in a cave in. You sustained a head injury and Daniel Jackson suffered a laceration on his abdomen. Aside from minor scrapes and bruises, Captain Carter and I escaped injury."

The news seemed to comfort O'Neill somewhat, but then he looked around the room. "Where are Sam and Daniel?"

"General Hammond sent them to Washington D.C.," Teal'c replied. "He felt it was important for the three of us to keep active while you recuperate."

Looking from Teal'c to Fraser, O'Neill said, "You've got to be kidding me.

Hammond sent Carter and Jackson to D.C. alone? Them versus a group of hard-ass politicians. That's the worst mismatch since Bambi versus Godzilla. They'll be eaten alive."

"Oh, they'll do just fine, colonel," Fraser replied, preempting Teal'c question about the existence of cannibals in the United States. "You just worry about getting better."

O'Neill drew himself up the best he could while lying on his back and said, "I'm fine now. Maybe tomorrow I'll see if I can't fly out to D.C. to give Sam and Daniel a hand with those barracudas at the Capitol Building."

Fraser groaned and shook her head as O'Neill continued to ignore her medical advice. Teal'c thought this behavior odd, though the colonel was behaving exactly as Captain Carter had predicted he would. When she returned he would have to ask her how she had known.

A sharp pain originating in the area of his lower abdomen wrenched Daniel back into the land of the conscious. The cave in. I hurt my side, he thought sleepily. Blinking the spots from his vision, he looked down at the offending area.

An arm lay draped across the bandages that bound his wounded side and stomach. Beyond that, a slim white leg was thrown over his own flannel clad legs. For a moment, he gaped in surprise, then looked at the head that lay pillowed on his chest.

Relief coursed through Daniel's veins when he found himself looking into the sleeping face of Sam Carter. Her eyes moved in darts and dashes, deep in REM sleep, causing her eyelashes to flutter. A small smile lifted the corners of her mouth and she made soft, contented noises. One hand was pinned between their torsos, while the other lay on Daniel's wound.

Gently, he lifted her arm away from the tender area, moving it to lay on his chest. Slightly disturbed by the movement, Sam snuggled against him, causing her pajama top to lift a bit and reveal a strip of her pale stomach.

Smiling at his friend's sleeping face, Daniel carefully moved his hand to tickle her. His fingers encountered surprisingly silky flesh, which made it even easier to run his fingers around her stomach. As expected, Sam jerked slightly and her smile widened. Her free hand ran over his chest in a haphazard pattern for a moment before she seemed to fall back to sleep.

Angling his head down to get a better look at her face, Daniel planted a light kiss on Sam's brow. She stirred and tilted her face up to him as if expecting a kiss on the lips. She probably has no idea who I am, he thought, feeling slightly depressed at the notion.

No matter how much he would have liked to kiss her, Daniel prided himself as being an honest, loyal (when he wasn't drugged, hypnotized or de-evolved) man. She was not thinking clearly and he was married. That was that.

Quickly, he raised his free hand and pressed two fingers softly against her lips. The momentary contact seemed to satisfy her, for she returned to her previous activity of snuggling against his chest. Brushing her soft blond hair off of her brow, Daniel smiled and drifted back to sleep himself.

Several hours later, Sam woke up feeling distinctly chilled. In actuality, only one of her legs was cold, but that was enough to disturb her. Reaching over, she tugged the blanket over herself.........and the body next to hers.

Startled, she looked up, as the last of her newly woken cob webs dissipated, into the face of Daniel Jackson. For one dread filled instant, she had thought that Terry had ended up in her bed. Then she realized that Daniel wouldn't have allowed that to happen, even if it

meant provoking Terry's mean streak as he had earlier at the party.

I suppose that's one way to let someone know you care, she thought with a silentlaugh. If he's willing to be beaten within an inch of his life, then he really cares. What a Hallmark card that would make!

Taking advantage of this rare moment where she could watch Daniel without being noticed, Sam studied him intently. Sleep smoothed his perpetually furrowed brow, but did not stop his quicksilver mind. His eyes moved rapidly back and forth, and his lips continued to form quietly uttered words. Sam couldn't understand what he was saying, but, with Daniel, he could have been speaking in any of several dozen languages.

One of his hands rested atop hers on his chest, while the other lay on the exposed skin at her waist. Every once in a while, his fingers would jerk and tickle her, but it wasn't an entirely unpleasant feeling.

He hadn't moved much that she could tell, but that could be attributed to the wound on his side. A small area of the white gauze had some dried blood caked on it, but that was probably just normal oozing from the stitches. The night before, she had re-wrapped the wound with fresh bandages, so she knew that it had bled sometime since then. The wound

was such that if he kept on bleeding it wouldn't have any effect on him until it increased.

The legs of his flannel pajama pants were warm against her. One thing she had always found curious about military men was their aversion to pajamas.

Every single one of them seemed to consider underwear to be man's sleepwear. That sort of thing was okay on a part time basis, but sometimes Sam would have done just about anything to get Terry into a pair of pajamas.

Daniel chuckled softly in his sleep and his arm tightened around Sam, bringing her up closer to his face. She drew in a breath as he moved and kissed the knuckles of her right hand, gently brushing her open palm with his thumb.

He must think I'm Sha're, she thought, blushing furiously. How do I get out of this one?

Slipping her hand from his grasp, she placed it on one of his cheeks and, slowly, so not to wake him, moved to kiss the other. He stilled under the contact, and Sam recalled something from the first and only time she had met Sha're. "Sleep, My Daniel," she murmured, using the address she had heard his wife use.

His smile broadening, Daniel settled back against the pillow and sighed.

Laying her head on his chest, Sam placed her hand over his heart and inhaled his scent. It was silly, but privately she had always wondered how he managed to smell like honey. She was fairly certain he didn't wear cologne, so it must have been the natural smell of his skin.

Surrounded by his warm arms and scent, Sam was lulled back to sleep by the rhythmic rise and fall of Daniel's chest. Her last cognizant thought was, Wouldn't the general just have a heart attack if he ever saw us like this?

BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wake up, Washington! It's a beautiful day here in our country's capitol, so what are you still doing in bed? It's eight AM already, so don't waste one more....

The annoying voice blaring from the radio alarm clock was silenced as Daniel's flailing arm finally found its target on the bedside table.

Blessedly, the room was quiet once again, but for the breathing of its two occupants. For several minutes, the pair lay in shocked silence, attempting to recover from their unplanned wake up.

"That has got to be the most annoying man on the face of this planet," Sam finally said, peering at Daniel from under the fall of her bangs. Unable to focus her bleary eyes, she dropped her head back to his chest.

Breathing slowly, Daniel asked, "Is there something strange about the residents of this city that makes them enjoy having their hearts stopped by that man's screaming in the morning?"

Sam attempted to read the digital clock, but failed. "I don't know, Daniel," she replied. "But I do know that we are not setting that alarm tonight."

Grunting in agreement, Daniel said, "If I never hear that voice again, it'll be to soon."

"I know what you..."

The last hurrah? Nah! I'd do it again! Oh yeah! All you party goers, get up and get out! The party is over and it's time to go to work!

HA-HA-HA-HA-....

Slap!

Crash!

"I think you killed it."

"I hate snooze alarms."

Laughing, Carter said, "Me too."

Squinting around the room, Daniel yawned and stretched. His side immediately protested and he retracted his arms. "So," he said quietly, "Want to go to the Smithsonian today?"

"Maybe later," she replied. "I'm going back to sleep now."

"Sounds like a plan."

Nine hours after he had woken from forty-three hours of unconsciousness, Colonel Jack O'Neill was bored. The doctor had flat out refused to allow him to leave, going so far as to threaten to sedate him should he try to escape. Not that he could physically move himself out of the bed, but, mentally, he was alert and active.

Fraser and her staff were trying to make his stay bearable, by bringing him books and magazines to read and generally staying away from him.

Teal'c had stayed with him for several hours until he had to go off and give a lecture on the use of staff weapons. That was probably the highlight of O'Neill's day, imagining Teal'c having to give a speech. Normally it was hard to get two words out of the guy.

Attempting to occupy his mind, Jack stared at the ceiling, counting the dots in the ceiling. He wondered if every panel had the same dot pattern on it, or if they were random. This is really sad, he realized, I haven't even been in here for a day, and I'm already going stir crazy.

A television and VCR on wheels suddenly appeared in his doorway. "Hello, Colonel," General Hammond called from behind the array of technology.

"Glad to see you're back with us."

"For the most part, Sir," he responded, watching as his commanding officer plugged in the TV.

Hammond turned to face O'Neill. "Dr. Fraser told me that while your body still needs to heal, your mind is restless," Hammond said, turning on the VCR. "I thought you might offer your opinion about a young Archaeologist I'm thinking about bringing onto the project. We showed her the original cover stones from the Giza dig.....as well as Dr.

Meyer's misguided translation of them. Watch."

The image on the screen appeared with startling suddenness. A young woman with long brown hair stood gaping at the cover stone. Her mouth moved, but no words came out. She seemed to be in the same state of academic tupor Daniel had fallen into when he had first seen the cover stone.

Spinning to the soldier that stood in the room with her she said, "Where did you people get this?"

"Classified, Ma'am?"

The woman pursed her lips and muttered something in a voice to soft for the recorder to capture. Then she was distracted by the translation written on the portable blackboard that stood by the stone. She studied the translation for a moment before saying, "What chimp with a piece of chalk translated this?"

"Excuse me, Ma'am?"

"You used Budge, didn't you? They really need to stop printing his books."

"What, Ma'am?"

But she was totally ignoring her escort now. Attacking the blackboard with an eraser and chalk, she began to rewrite the entire thing. She seemed almost hypnotized by the writing before her. The whole time she spoke to herself in muttered half sentences and other languages.

"Now this is curious," she said to no one in particular. "The word qebeh is followed by the adverbial sedjemen-ef with a cleft subject translated as 'in his sarcophagus? I don't think so."

She scrunched her nose as though the indelicacy of the translation caused her physical pain. "'Sealed and buried' is more like it, " She muttered.

"Not 'door to Heaven' either."

Within minutes she had erased every word of the original translation and read aloud her work, "A million years into the sky is Ra, sun god. Sealed and buried for all time his .....StarGate."

Apparently satisfied, she turned to the soldier and said, "So what does the military want with five thousand year old Egyptian tablets anyway?"

"Classified, Ma'am."

Looking more than a little peeved, she said, "Okay, so who can get me what ever pass key I need to get into the classified information?"

"Restricted information, Ma'am."

The woman began pacing around the soldier in tightening circles, obviously unnerving the boy. "Ma'am, may I ask what you're doing?"

"What? Oh, just looking for the little string that you pull to make G.I. Joe say different phrases," she replied sweetly. "I figure you got a few I haven't heard yet."

"Ma'am?"

At that Hammond paused the recording and looked to O'Neill. "Well, Colonel," he asked seriously. "What do you think of Doctor Alexandria Cooper?"

O'Neill looked at the frozen image on the screen, noting the flashing intelligence in Cooper's eyes. Her attitude would have to be worked on though. She was a civilian if ever there was one. "Frankly, Sir, I think she'll be a pain in the ass" he replied, thinking, She'll certainly fit in around here. "When's she starting?"

Hammond nodded his approval and said, "One of Dr. Jackson's team is on standby to brief her, but frankly, I'd rather you to talk to her."

Surprised, O'Neill said, "Me, Sir?" This is punishment for getting hurt.

"Yes, Jack. You've done well with Jackson, so just do it again. I'm sure you'll get along."

For as long as she could remember, Alexandria Cooper had hated the hive mentality of the military. She was an academic, a free thinker, and had little patience for those who, she felt, didn't have the guts to stick with their own thought and so asked others to do the thinking for them. Every aspect of following commands blindly was abhorrent to her, and she had always made that painfully clear to anyone who asked. Hell, she even refused to date members of the ROTC in college, no matter how cute they were.

Then one day a Lieutenant Colonel named Samuels caught up with her in Egypt. She had tried to give the man the brush off, but he was unusually persistent. Samuels earned her grudging respect by climbing down the rickety plank ladder into the tomb she was excavating. Once inside he didn't touch or disturb any of the artifacts, had actually treated the scene with the respect it deserved.

That had made up her mind.

Inviting the colonel to her office, a small tent with a computer with a satellite uplink, she had received one of the biggest shocks of her life.

The military wanted her to translate some ancient Egyptian tablets for them. The photographs, unlike any she had seen in her distinguished career, were the key to her agreeing to work for them. Apparently her curiosity was stronger than her dislike for the military.

She had arrived back in the United States and caught a flight to Colorado two days later. A couple of cookie cutter privates had met her at the airport in Denver and had brought her to a mountain base, where she had been shown the tablet that Samuels had shown her the pictures of. It was stunning and, in her opinion, the most significant Archaeological find of the century. The translation had been all wrong though, and she had rewritten it. The final translation of the 'stones message made her think of so many questions, but Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, as she had come to refer to her escorts, were less than helpful.

Then they had aggravated her even more by bringing her to a tiny, empty office to wait. Not having slept in a few days, her patience worn down by the thick skulled actions of the pair of privates, Cooper's mood steadily deteriorated into a toxic soup of fury.

Pacing the confines of the small room, Alexandria ran a hand through her already disheveled hair. She paused only occasionally to glare down at the two guards that stood on either side of the door. Though it was a juvenile feeling, she couldn't help but be pleased that they both had to look up at her. One of the rare benefits of having a 5'11" frame, especially when it came to being around testosterone driven men.

As she moved, the soldiers tracked her with their eyes, keeping the rest of their bodies in a firm at ease position. Alexandria couldn't tell if they found something about her to be suspicious, or if their attentions were attracted for more conventional reasons. It wouldn't surprise her if it was a little of both.

Finally reaching the end of her chain, Cooper got up into the face of the older soldier (he was probably twenty-two) the next time she passed him.

"Look, Private," she snapped, invading his personal space. "You might have to remain here because some uppity old man with a couple of stars on his collar gave an order, but I'm a civilian. I'm here only because I want to be, and, frankly, I don't really want to stay here any longer. So, either find me your boss or show me the door!"

"Sorry for the wait, Doctor."

A new voice entered the room and Cooper spun away from the harassed looking private to focus on this more verbal (and, hopefully, more feisty) opponent. General Hammond regarded the young woman blandly, not at all put off by her display of righteous anger. His seeming aplomb calmed Cooper slightly, as her eyed flicked to his collar and identified him as a high ranking officer.

"Finally," she grumbled. "Someone who can tell me what's going on."

Hammond smiled slightly at that and motioned for the doctor to have a seat. In his meaty hand he held a sheath of papers that was as thick as a dictionary. "Actually, Doctor Cooper," he told her with a hint of good humor, "I'm just going to have you sign a few papers and then I'll take you to speak with Colonel O'Neill. He will actually be briefing you."

Scowling darkly, Alexandria dropped into the chair and reached for the packet. Hammond appeared to want to say something else, but Cooper just said, "Gimme the damn papers."

Propped up on a large pile of pillows, Colonel Jack O'Neill looked across the room to where young Doctor Cooper stood in the doorway. She stared back at him, non-pulsed by his obvious visual inspection. Doesn't remind me much of Daniel, he thought critically, Except for the eyes. They both have old eyes.

Physically, Cooper impressed him much more than Jackson had on their first meeting. The woman was tall, tanned and muscular. Loose cargo pants were belted on her hips. A small, delicate ring pierced her belly button, adding decoration to the otherwise smooth plain. Tied just above her short ribs, the sleeveless white shirt she wore offered little to no

protection against the cool infirmary air. A thin gold chain held a cartouche just above her cleavage, and she appeared to wear matching a ring and arm band. She did, however, wear delicate glasses like Jackson, but made them look like the latest fashion.

All in all, O'Neill got the impression that, while her surface was decorative, there might be something more to this young woman than was readily apparent. Her obvious skill with Hieroglyphics non-withstanding, he saw something in those eyes of hers.

"Hello, Doctor," he finally said, motioning for the woman to enter the room. "Glad to see you found the place."

Entering the room, Cooper dragged a chair over to O'Neill's bedside and slipped into it. With a shrug, she said, "The colored lines painted on the floor helped."

O'Neill cast an amused glance in her direction. Always thought they were silly myself. "I'm sure they did," he responded sarcastically. "Now, Doctor, I..."

"Alex," she interrupted. "Just call me Alex. Even if you graduate last in your class, they still call you doctor. I like to distinguish myself."

An almost imperceptible smile slipped across O'Neil's face. "Okay, Alex,"

he replied. "I assume you signed the forms General Hammond presented to you."

Shrugging, the woman replied, "Those confidentiality/non-disclosure papers?"

Kid's a spunky one. Quick, too. I wonder.... "Before I begin," he said, noting the flash of annoyance that crossed her face. They had defiantly let this one simmer for to long. "I'd like to know what your impressions of our facility are."

Rocking back in her chair, Alex looked around. "Well, this is obviously a converted missile silo and it's obviously run by the military. You want me to translate the five thousand year old writing on a ten thousand year old tablet. Don't look surprised. The results of the radiocarbon C14 tests were in the data I was shown. This poses something

of an academic quandary for me. Also, I see a wounded colonel on a military base in Colorado.

Now, either the local militia has been getting really daring, or, and this is the one I'm betting on, there's a big piece of the puzzle hidden behind all those confidentiality forms of yours."

"Finally, you guys are using an enormous amount of power. I hear the generators humming and have seen the lights dim four times. I assume that there's some correlation between all these things. So, did I do okay?" she finished and looked at O'Neill expectantly.

Gaping at her, O'Neill was at a loss for words. Okay, the kid's good. Real good. Can't wait to put her and Daniel in the same room and watch the show. With an indrawn breath, he said, "You're gonna do fine here, Alex. Just fine. Now, about that missing puzzle piece....."

"Shopping?"

With a sigh, Sam looked over at Daniel, who sat on the foot of her bed.

The young man's face was set in the expression of one who had just been informed that he was to go before a firing squad. Why do all men react like that?, she wondered idly. "Yes, shopping," she stated again, hoping that perhaps Daniel had misunderstood her, and did not have an irrational fear of malls. "Have you looked in your closet yet?"

"Yes," came the confused reply. "I found pants, shirts and suits in my size. Why do we need to go shopping?"

"Were all your clothes military issue?"

A pause answered her question before the soft voice said, "Yes."

"And aren't we under orders to blend in?"

Another pause. "Yes."

"So it stands to reason that we should try to change our provided wardrobes a bit, doesn't it?"

A heaving sigh was the only response Sam needed to hear to know that she had won..

Enclosed spaces. Loud, annoying people by the hundreds. Useless items piled on every available surface. Taking these variables into account, it was a wonder that Daniel could enter a mall without suffering a nervous breakdown. As a rule, he didn't like large masses of people, especially when said people were rushing around like chickens with their

heads cut off.

Carter, however, appeared to enjoy the melee. It seemed that she made it a point to visit every store possible and spend an incredible amount of time in each one. Dazed, Daniel got dragged along for the ride.

After two hours, Daniel was ready to drop everything, fly back to Colorado and jump through the Stargate to Chulak, consequences be damned. Bad enough was the fact that he had to stay in the mall, but he had been so out of it that he had followed Carter obediently into Victoria's Secret's without question. Needless to say, once shaken from

his tedium induced coma, Daniel practically launched himself out of the store. Sitting on one of the benches the mall designers had so thoughtfully provided, Daniel set down his armload of bags. The Eddie Bauer and L.L. Bean bags were his, but the J. Crew, Gap and Laura Ashley bags were Sam's. He really didn't mind helping out with the bags, for

Sam was carrying several of her own, but he outright refused to carry whatever she was buying in Victoria's Secret's. That was simply asking way too much of him.

"Shopping with the wife?"

Surprised by a voice addressing him, Daniel turned to look at the two men he was sharing the bench with. One was a man about Daniel's age, and the other, whom had spoken, looked to be in his forties. Both wore looks of long suffering, but the older fellow smiled slightly at Daniel, obviously trying to put him at ease.

Fumbling for a response, Daniel said, "Ah...no. She's a friend."

"Ooooh," the man said, wincing slightly. "You came shopping with a female friend?"

The younger man shook his head comiseratingly. "Sorry, pal. You're in for a long wait. I'm Kevin, by the way, and this's Mike."

Puzzled, Daniel said, "Daniel." He had no real clue why they were acting so strangely. Sure, it had been years since Daniel had last shopped with a member of the fairer sex, but how bad could it be. Settling into the bench, he listened to Kevin and Mike pick up their conversation, which sounded like it had been going on for some time, and waited for Sam to finish.

Finally, at 12:30, Sam and Daniel left the mall. That was an hour after he joined Kevin and Mike on the bench.

Having worked, and therefore practically lived, at the Pentagon for several years, Sam Carter had long ago gotten over the awe she had felt the first time she saw the magnificent Smithsonian Museums. The hulking structure that was the Air and Space Museum had always been a favorite spot of hers, a place where she had gone for quiet contemplation and inspiration.

But the boyish enthusiasm with which Daniel approached the complex was infectious. "I spent a lot of my early childhood in museums," he told her softly as they entered. "My parents were going to bring me here for a birthday gift, but...you know."

Sam knew what he meant immediately, and noted how his bright eyes dimmed slightly. As a boy, Daniel had seen his parents crushed to death by an ancient cover stone in a New York museum. On a mission, Sam had seen the accident occur as Daniel had, all those years ago, thanks to the meddling of an advanced alien race. She was fairly certain that mission had caused her friend a significant amount of emotional damage, though he had yet to say anything about it.

At present, Daniel was determined to visit the museum of natural history.

The academic in him loved to be surrounded by the treasures of the past, though he probably knew more about them than did the men that curated them.

But Daniel, Carter had come to learn, could absorb knowledge anywhere, even from a place that one thought to be drained of secrets.

Despite the fact that they were not in her favorite museum, Sam found strolling the halls with Daniel relaxing. Occasionally, the archaeologist would stop to examine an artifact or explain a significant piece to her.

As he spoke other tourists would look in their direction and listen to him.

After a short time, a small group of people were tailing them, obviously enjoying Daniel's mini-lectures.

They probably think he's a college professor, Sam thought with a smile.

Dressed in jeans, a button down denim shirt and a sports jacket, he certainly looked the part. His tousled, longish hair and delicate, wire rimmed spectacles only added to his collegiate image. If he's the professor, then I wonder what they think I am?

"Wrong dynasty."

Her train of thought interrupted, Sam looked over at Daniel, who was muttering to himself over some fragmentary remains. It looked as though someone had flung a vase onto the floor and put the pieces in the case, but obviously the Archaeologist was picking up on some minute detail that was lost on the general public.

Touching Daniel's arm gently to draw his attention, Sam asked, "What do you mean?"

Daniel glanced at her, but the majority of his attention remained focused on the vase. "This vase is curated in the wrong dynasty. The glyphs here weren't found on ornamental objects for at least four centuries after this is dated...Very sloppy...."

Lost in his academic theory, Daniel continued muttering to himself.

Carter smiled slightly to herself and moved off to the next display case.

She supposed that she had it easier than Daniel had, for at least she got to enjoy herself while her friend was in his element, unlike his earlier experience in the mall. Suppressing a laugh, she prepared for a long, interesting day.

The chilly infirmary air had long ago lost its importance to Alexandria, who hunched over a laptop. When a young marine had brought it in and O'Neill had logged on for her, she had still been doubtful about the Stargate that the colonel had been talking about. Alien worlds. Space battles. Stargates. It all sounded like something from the science fiction shows she watched.

Then she had begun to read and watch the laptop.

After several hours, O'Neill had drifted back to sleep, worn out by her constant questions and unfailing enthusiasm. Alexandria was not deterred though, and she remained riveted on the computer, reading as much as possible. Normally, she devoted exactly as much of her brain power as was required to complete routine functions, like reading. And the rest

of her brain could ponder other things. If interested in a topic, it was possible for her to devote that extra concentration to it. In her years of reading sci-fi she had come across a term that suited her brain perfectly. Multifaceted.

Going over these reports took up every bit of brain power she had to spare. So this is what Daniel's been doing. Oh, we are so going to have a talk when he shows up.

Standing in the doorway, Major Louis Ferretti smiled at the intense expression on Cooper's face. The light from the computer screen illuminated her face in a blue glow and glinted off of her glasses. As she read, she crossed and un-crossed her legs repeatedly.

Obviously this was a woman with an excess of energy, something Ferretti could whole-heartedly relate to.

"My God," she muttered softly, engrossed in a report. Stealthily approaching the apparently oblivious woman, Ferretti tried to get a look at what she was reading. He hoped that it was one of SG-6's successful reports, preferably one in which he had gotten to play the hero. Entering within an arms length of Cooper, he peered at the screen...and

found himself landing painfully on the hard cement floor with a knee cutting off his wind pipe.

"Uhhgggh," he grunted, then coughed as the pressure on his throat let up.

Cooper sat back on her heels, glowering unhappily at him. Gasping for air, he managed, "Why'd you do that?"

"Why did you sneak up on me?" she demanded in return, still eyeing him warily. Between the scare he had given her and her general distrust for all things military, Ferretti was very low on her list of people she was liking at the moment. Very, very low.

Massaging his throat, Ferretti replied, "I was not sneaking up on you."

Okay, maybe I was sneaking, but I don't deserve a crushed larynx for such a minor offense. "I was trying to see what you were reading."

Cooper continued to glare at him. "So instead of asking, you chose to peer over my shoulder without announcing your presence. Are you stupid?

What if I had a gun?"

That comment almost made Ferretti smile. "This being a military base, it's a wonder you weren't armed."

"I'm not military," she sniffed, straightening up and offering Ferretti a reluctant hand. "I'm an archaeologist."

Deciding that he couldn't be any more humiliated than he already was, Louis allowed himself to be pulled to his feet. Once there, he saw that Cooper was much taller than he would have thought, for she could look him straight in the eye. "I know who you are, Doctor Cooper," he finally replied. "I'm supposed to relieve Colonel O'Neill and see that you get dinner."

"Dinner? What time is it?" It can't be time to eat already.

"Seventeen hundred hours, but you skipped lunch. The General didn't want you to go all day with out eating."

"I couldn't even think of eating while there is so much data to go over.

Well, maybe I could use some coffee and a chocolate bar, just to keep me running."

Ferretti started. It must be a scientist thing, cause those are Danny's two favorite food groups. "Is that what they train you archaeologists to eat in college?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Never mind."

"That is truly revolting, Daniel," Sam Carter laughed, watching her dining companion spoon a huge scoop of dessert into his mouth. While she had ordered a simple cherry cobbler to follow up her fish dinner, Daniel had gotten some sugary, calorie-filled monstrosity of an ice cream sundae. "What exactly is it anyway?"

Swallowing then licking the whipped cream from his lips, Daniel said, "Cappuccino-Chocolate Swirl ice cream, topped with hot fudge, caramel, marshmallow, and peanut butter sauces, whipped cream, nuts, Oreo's, M&M's, jimmies, and a cherry. Want to try some?"

Sam frowned and shook her head. How can he eat that stuff and not gain any weight? I'm amazed and jealous at the same time. "No thanks. I think I'm absorbing enough calories just looking at it."

Grinning around his spoon, Daniel said, "Well, I figure we're going to be stuck at another one of those banquets tomorrow night, so I want to eat real food while I can."

"That is not real food," Sam countered. "Besides, what was wrong with the food at the last banquet?"

"It wasn't the food I had the problem with, but more the lack there of."

As Daniel spoke, he waved his spoon about like a pointer. The fact that he could easily launch a whole lot of sticky ice cream at a person appeared not to occur to him. "I mean, I like French food, but that piece of chicken was about two square inches in size. That's only part of an appetizer for some people."

Sam couldn't help but laugh at that. She giggled at her friend for a moment, so affronted was his expression when he talked about the previous night's meal. Thinking about it, she realized that she had only seen Daniel's appetite at two speeds; Totally denying that he required sustenance and enthusiastically hungry. The latter mode also usually involved chocolate.

Jokingly, Sam said, "And you're our specialist on other cultures...What sort of attitude is that for you to be having?"

"A realistic one," Daniel replied, then sighed heavily. "Actually, before Abydos, French food was my favorite because of the small portions. I wasn't much of an eater in those days. Your stereotypical skinny, sickly nerd."

"What changed on Abydos?" she asked curiously. For a chatterbox, Daniel was usually hesitant to talk about his life on Abydos, for it brought up painful memories of his missing wife. Tonight, however, his eyes were not heavy with sadness, but simply full of memories.

Daniel smiled. "What didn't happen on Abydos? Well, I learned to fight there, first against Ra and then against nature. The desert was hard to live in. For the first time in my life, I found myself doing real, hard physical labor that didn't involve crouching over a two inch plot of space while unearthing a fossil. It was a real eye opener."

Carter was puzzled by what he was saying. She had been a very physical person all her life and didn't understand how anyone could not be. "How do you mean?"

"Okay, let me tell you about my one brush with organized sports," Daniel said. "I think it'll help you understand what my mindset was about physicality."

"Not long after my twelfth birthday, my foster father, in a misguided attempt to indoctrinate me into the youth community, persuaded me to try out for Pop Warner Football. I quit an hour into the first practice, immediately after "the Gauntlet" was explained to me. I saw a bad situation from the start. They wanted me to run between two rows of bigger boys with pads, all of whom would be trying to beat me to the ground. I was not inclined to participate in such a self-torturing activity and said as much. That was when the big, red, screaming face that was passing itself off as a coach booted me off the field. I wasn't sorry."

He paused for a minute as Sam laughed helplessly. Somehow she had a hard time picturing a little Daniel Jackson standing up to an enraged Pee-Wee football coach, but when she did she saw a priceless image. As she began to control her mirth, Daniel continued, "Anyhow, after that I avoided sports. I spent most of my time in books, not living in the world around me. I'd forget to eat for days, which, given that I weighed about forty pounds less than I do now, was not a good thing. Then I began life on Abydos."

"It was necessary that I get out there into the world and work, so I did.

After a period of adjustment, I got used to it and even enjoyed it. Pretty soon I had to switch from my Earth clothes to robes because I was developing some muscle and gaining some healthy weight. After a days work I was always hungry and there was always food to eat. I guess I just got used to eating regularly on Abydos."

Daniel stopped speaking, waiting for Sam to respond in one way or another.

"You really tried out for Pop Warner football?" was all she could ask before again dissolving into a fit of laughter. The idea of Daniel, possibly the biggest pacifist she had ever had the dubious pleasure of knowing, playing football was alien to her. Also, for as long as she had known the man, he had never overestimated his athletic prowess. If

anything, he underestimated himself.

Grinning, Daniel sighed, "Yes! I admit it. I tried, but failed miserably because I lacked the porper sado-masochistic tendancies!"

As her mirth subsided once again, Sam sipped from her wine glass. The burgundy liquid rolled around on her tongue and seemed to make her senses tingle. It had been a long time since she had tasted a good wine, and so savored the chance. He talked about Abydos, but not one mention

of Sha're.

Interesting. "Well, I was never that good at football, either," she said after a moment. "Always preferred baseball."

"A small child swinging a big club to hit a little ball," Daniel sighed with a shake of his head. "To each his or her own."

"You were beaten up a lot as a kid, weren't you?"

"All the time. At least until I turned sixteen."

"What happened at sixteen? Growth spurt?"

"I went away to college. People just ignored me."

"That sucks."

"I kinda liked it."

That threw Sam for a loop. Daniel was very talkative and liked to be around people, even if he did have occasional trouble relating to them.

The thought of him as a loner was alien to her. "You liked being alone, Daniel?"

With a somewhat sad sigh, he answered, "People change, Sam. People change."

"And this is the athletic training area," Ferretti concluded, leading Cooper into the large, fully equip gymnasium. Equipment of all types filled the room, which could obviously provide any workout a person might desire. He showed her the room just so she would know its location, not because he suspected she would use it. In the years he had

known Daniel Jackson, probably the most athletic of the archaeologists employed on the base, he had only seen the man exercise once, and that was for a yearly physical evaluation. He had no reason to think Cooper would be any different.

Cooper, however, seemed impressed by the setup. Lightly, she ran a finger along the bar of the bench press and said, "They want to keep you guys in shape, don't they?"

Ferretti grinned and puffed his chest a bit, though it didn't change his overall physique. "Well, it's mostly for us military officers, but anyone employed on the base can use the facilities."

"Cool," Alexandria replied, shrugging her hair back over her shoulders.

The tall doctor then reached out and easily hefted a fifty pound weight.

Ferretti saw the muscles ripple beneath the skin of her arm, beneath the delicate arm band. "This job might be fun after all."

Slightly awed, Louis nodded mutely for a moment and then asked, "How is it that you're so different from the other archaeologists we have stationed here? I mean, none of them are even the least bit interested in working out."

Cocking her dark head to the side, Cooper shrugged and replaced the dumbbell in its mount. "I don't know. Maybe I got tired of the stereotype most people apply to academics and wanted to shatter their perceptions." She paused and gave him a devilish smile. "Or perhaps I like the feeling of being powerful. None of the workers ever messed with me on digs. If you'd seen me play soccer, you'd know why to!"

Having seen her move like a muscular jungle cat, he suspected that she had extraordinarily well developed leg muscles. Not the sort of legs you'd ever want to be kicked by. He actually pitied any idiot stupid enough to end up on the receiving end of one of her kicks. "You're a kicker, right?"

"In more ways than one, Major. In more ways than one."

Standing on the bluff overlooking the Potomac River, Daniel and Sam quietly watched the lights dance on the water. The cold wind stung their cheeks, causing them to crouch into themselves. In the still of the night, it seemed that even the city had gone to sleep.

Daniel's side ached mightily. He remembered once hearing someone with a black eye say that she could feel each air molecule as it bounced off the bruise. At the time, Daniel had thought her rather odd, but now he understood where she was coming from. Each breath made his side erupt in fiery agony and each careful movement brought stars up before his eyes. He didn't want to say anything though, because Sam seemed so content to stare out at the water.

"What do you see?" he asked suddenly, his own gaze dancing on the waves.

Sam started at the interruption, but paused to consider the question.

From most people, she would think that they wanted to know what physical aspect of the scene before her caught her attention. The question came from Daniel though, and Daniel wasn't the superficial sort. When Daniel asked a question, it was usually something deep and thoughtful (when it wasn't a question about military or science),

something that could touch a persons heart.

Staring at the water, she murmured, "I don't know what I see, Daniel." I truly don't.

It was the truth, but it sounded odd on Sam's mind. Aloud it sounded even more trite to her. Daniel, however, thought about her answer, not acting as though it was a meaningless thing. Finally, he said, "Maybe that's why you like the view. It's a mystery."

"Maybe," she murmured in response, wrapping her arms around her torso and shivering slightly. The chilly night air cut through her thin blouse far too easily for her taste. "And maybe we should head back to the hotel."

Noting her discomfort, Daniel slid out of his jacket, the heavy denim shirt he wore enough protection from the cold. Silently, he held it out to Sam, and at her balking look, draped it over her slim shoulders. "I'm warm, Sam. Take the jacket," he insisted, holding the jacket closed around her.

Snuggling into the coat, still warm from Daniel's body heat, Sam sighed, "Are you sure? You don't need to be chilled an top of that side of ...you're bleeding again!"

"What?" Daniel asked, looking down at his ribs. Sure enough, blood soaked through his shirt in a few places along the wound. The heavy material clung to him in the darker areas and seemed to be somewhat dried already. "That doesn't look good."

"Not at all," Sam muttered, leaning over to inspect his side. Please sdon't let him need real medical attention. I don't want to try to come up with a plausible lie to tell the doctor. Though there was a good deal of blood, it didn't seem to be enough to endanger his life or even effect him very much. "I want to check your stitches, Daniel. Come on."

Flinching, Daniel said, "Good idea. I really don't want to bleed to death."

"After all we've been through, bleeding to death seems a bit trivial, doesn't it?" she laughed, wrapping an arm around Daniel's chest to help him walk.

Daniel shot her a funny look, thinking, I hurt my stomach, not my legs, but kept quiet, enjoying the simple human contact. Though his side was bothering him, he knew from experience that he had not lost enough blood for him to need to really worry.

"You better not pass out on me," Sam muttered teasingly. "Cause I don't want to have to carry you. It wouldn't look good."

"Not to mention the damage it would do to my ego."

"You still have an ego? I thought it gave up and died a long time ago."

"Very funny."

"I thought so."

"They all said he was crazy, you know that?" Doctor Cooper said as she walked through the enormous SGC reference library. According to Ferretti, it had been an empty storage bay until Daniel Jackson had returned to Earth and take a position as head

archaeologist/anthropologist/linguist. Then the scientist had badgered General Hammond until the man got the proper funds for the base to stock the library. Every specialist on the base spent many hours in the big room, researching Earth's past to unlock you always were persistent.

Ferretti, looking down at one of the books left on the table by one of Jackson's staff, jerked slightly and said, "Sorry, what?"`

Looking across the room at him, Alexandria said, "The academic community.

They were ready to commit Daniel for his theories, and here is proof that he was, in a very real sense, correct. It's astounding."

"Well, you have to admit that it's pretty hard to believe all of this," he laughed, drawing an odd look from the young doctor. "I mean, if I didn't know for a fact that this was real, I wouldn't believe it."

Alexandria blinked several times in rapid succession. "You have to believe in the unbelievable."

"And if I don't want to?" he said, surprising himself with the hollowness that crept into his voice.

Allowing her hand to fall onto an open book of Egyptian myths, Alexandria regarded him with wide eyes. "I've read those reports," she said calmly.

"With all that you've seen and done, how can you not believe?"

"I do believe, I just wish I didn't," he replied. "You know, it wasn't all that long ago that I knew there was no such thing as an alien. I knew we were alone in the galaxy. Then they opened the 'Gate and I found out that I knew nothing."

"So if you believe in the unbelievable, you think there will be nothing left of what you believed for you to believe in," Cooper said, easily wrapping her mouth around the tongue twister.

Ferretti stared. "Damn. Another one."

Curious, Alexandria asked, "What do you mean, another one?"

"You talk in circles, just like Daniel."

"We must have taken the same course in college; Informing the less informed in a manner that is less than informative."

An awkward silence filled the air for a moment before Alex continued.

"That was a joke."

Ferretti snorted then opened his mouth to issue a smart reply. He was, however, cut off by a wailing siren and a flashing red light. "Ah, hell," he muttered, spinning on his heel and leaving the room at a trot.

Alexandria followed him.

Brushing past soldiers who were intent on reaching their own destinations, she said, "Louis! What the hell is this?" Please tell me the missiles that used to be stored here aren't leaking.

"The base is on alert," he said reaching an elevator and roughly jabbing its buttons.

"Oh." Her eyes got wide and she took a deep breath. Not a nuclear meltdown. Then she considered how he had answered her question. "That's not a good thing."

"You know, I'm beginning to wonder if maybe Janet was right about drugging you until you heal," Sam said distastefully as she peeled bloodied fabric off of Daniel's side. How did you ever manage to survive adolescence?, she thought grimly at the accident prone young man.

The archaeologist flinched and ducked his head, immediately regretting the second action. "Hey, Sam, remember how I told you that I despised the sight of blood? Well, I really can't stomach my own blood."

Sam looked up at him sharply. "Don't you get sick on me, Daniel. We really don't need another complication."

"I can't really control my gag reflex, Sam, but I'll see what I can do," he mumbled, closing his eyes. In truth, the sight of blood had stopped bothering him a long time ago. Now, it was the smell, the warm, coppery smell that was distinctly human that caused his stomach to rebel. Don't think about it. Just don't think about it.

"Just hold still," Sam scowled good-naturedly. Daniel made a half-hearted effort to squirm away, but as a rule followed her orders. Gazing down at his abused side, she asked, "Did this bother you last night? At the party, I mean?"

"A little," Daniel admitted meekly, then hissed as Carter put too much pressure on his wound. Making a startled sound, she pulled her hand back, but Daniel quickly assured her that he was not further injured. "Hey, I'm all right."

Frowning uneasily, Sam pawed through the medical bag that Doctor Fraser had sent with them. "Well, it's not infected, but you're defiantly going to be tender for a e." Please pull the guy thing and refuse to admit when you're in pain.

"Great," Daniel mumbled. "I should make a list of activities to avoid. 1) No street hockey with Jack. 2) No letting Jack talk me into 'self-defense' lessons. 3) See 2, replace Jack's name with Teal'c's. 4) Avoid being beaten to a pulp by aliens...."

"And the list goes on," Sam laughed, as she sprayed an analgesic on the wound. "Those few things you named aren't even the tip of the iceberg. I've seen you get hurt in I considered humanly possible. There, now let your side air out."

With that, Sam flopped down on the bed beside Daniel, who was still chuckling slightly. After a moment of comfortable silence, Sam said, "This sure is different from the base."

As if to define irony, the small laptop on Daniel's desk chose that moment to whir to life, emitting a high pitched buzz and flashing. Sam jumped at the sound and made a bee-line for the terminal. Favoring his side, Daniel eased himself upright. "You had to say that, didn't you?" he asked, moving to tap his code into the machine. Murphy's Law. I

swear, someday someone's going to find definitive proof that Murphy's Law is true.

Of the pair, Carter was a better keyboarder, and so took up position in front of the monitor, waiting for a message. After a moment the message screen came to life, flashing: Capt. Carter. Dr. Jackson.

Report to SGC ASAP.

Gen. G. Hammond.

"Brief, but to the point while explaining absolutely nothing," Daniel muttered. Oh well. At least this gets me out of going to another tedious dinner.

Sam shrugged. "Better get dressed Daniel. I'll send our regrets to the Senator we were supposed to have dinner with tomorrow and get us a ride to Colorado."

Pausing as he headed for the door, Daniel looked at her pleadingly.

"Please tell me we're going to fly commercial."

"We'll see."

Major Louis Ferretti entered the control room over the 'Gate room at top speed and immediately assessed the situation. The blast shield was closed, obstructing any view of the Stargate, which usually meant something that was potentially dangerous was coming through. General Hammond stood over Airman Owen Bradford, trying to stare an answer out of the younger man. Hunched over another console, Lieutenant Graham Timmons was hacking away at a keyboard, occasionally pointing to the viewer that Andrea Schultz, an anthropologist, was scrutinizing.

"General," he said briskly, moving to stand by his superior officer. That one word was understood to ask both the situation and what his orders were.

Military efficiency frowned on wasted words in crisis circumstances.

Hammond looked over at Ferretti, noticing a momentarily silent Alexandria Cooper trailing the Major, and indicated the unseen 'Gate room with a nod of his head.

"A wormhole was established from PX3468 and we received SG-8's remote transmission. SG-8 did not return, however, and an object came through.

Its purpose is still unknown and Doctor Schultz has yet to translate the writings on it."

The anthropologist looked up, an indignant expression on her face. "Well, I specialize in Latin and Hebrew," she asserted unhappily. "I am the only linguist on base though. Everyone else is either on a mission or off duty."

Ferretti squinted at the enlarged image on Schultz's screen and asked, "Can we e-mail this to Danny-Doctor Jackson-, sir?"

"I've already recalled Carter and Jackson," Hammond replied. "When they arrive and we have more information, your team will go to PX3468 with SG-1. Without Colonel O'Neill, of course."

Quietly, Cooper had made her way into the room and was eyeing the image on the screen warily. "The writing is Ancient Greek," she announced to no one in particular. "It says, 'All bow before Ares, God of War. Any opposition to his divinity will be crushed. Your weapons pale before those that our Lord has gifted us. Consider this a demonstration.'"

Everyone in the control room looked at her blankly for a moment and Cooper shrugged. "What? You were expecting poetry? These people worship a god of war, not Athena."

"What sort of demonstration, Doctor?" Hammond said, processing what she had said and considering the military implications. The object could be a bomb or some other kind of deadly weapon if the people of PX3468 truly wanted to demonstrate their superior warfare technology.

Alexandria squinted at the digital image again and shook her head. "It doesn't say," she grumbled, then reached up and pushed her glasses up on her nose. "Perhaps, if I could see the object from another angle....May I examine it up close?"

Exchanging a look with Ferretti, Hammond shook his head. "You may not. We have no idea what that object is. It could be a biological weapon."

Cooper narrowed her eyes and glanced at another monitor for a moment. "So you won't let me examine the object for fear that it could poison me," she said softly, "And yet you have no qualms about leaving those two dozen soldiers in the room with it."

With a regretful flinch, Ferretti said, "They're soldiers, Doctor.

They're doing their jobs."

"And I am being prevented from doing mine," she answered reasonably. "What are you afraid of? I signed all of those papers releasing the government from any responsibility were I to suffer an injury, and it's not like I'm going to go and touch the thing. I just want to read it." Military intelligence. Yeah right.

She sounds exactly like Daniel, Hammond thought with a shudder. And, no he always manages to get himself hurt or into an improbable amount of trouble. At least I know he can usually get himself out of a bad situation. No way is she going in there. Yet. Aloud, he said, "No, Doctor. We're all going to wait and see what the object does."

Cooper made a face and said, "But, General, I..."

"My decision is final," Hammond stated, looking across the room at the young woman. "Is that understood?"

The officers present all looked from Hammond to Cooper, almost too nervous to breath. Dissent in the ranks almost always started with a civilian like her, and the sort of dissent the Stargate bred was usually very dangerous.

After all, it was Daniel who talked O'Neill, Carter and Teal'c into taking an unauthorized trip through the Stargate to stop a Gao'uld invasion. The fact that they saved Earth was the only thing that excused them from reprimand.

Drawing herself up to her full height and taking advantage of the aura of dignity that surrounded her, Alexandria raised a brow and said, "Completely."

As the word passed her lips, Bradford and Ferretti exchanged a relieved glance. Civilian crisis averted. For the moment.

After running across Washington D.C. to catch a flight, which ended up being an hour late, circling over Colorado for two hours and then being forced to endure a horrific drive to the SGC through a whiteout, Sam and Daniel arrived back at Creek Mountain. They were both tired and irritable and Daniel's hodophobia was acting up, but, as they rode the

elevator down to Sublevel 11, then changed elevators to get to Sublevel 28, all personal concerns were pushed aside. They knew Hammond well enough to know that he had to have had a good reason to re-call them.

Disembarking from the lift they encountered a flurry of activity. Junior officers ran down the halls, ordinances in hand. Majors could be heard issuing orders, but none of that caught their attention. Shouldering past other officers, Carter and Jackson hurried down the hall towards the situation room, where they knew they would find General Hammond.

Carter burst into the situation room a few steps before her teammate, who was ignoring his injuries in order to focus on any present threat. A trained military officer, she immediately took stock of the scene before her. Hammond was holding court in one corner, surrounded by Majors Ferretti, Stanley and Thomas. A pair of technicians were setting up another bank of monitors along the far wall. Doctor Andrea Schultz, one

of Daniel's translators, and another young woman Sam didn't recognize were hunched over a monitor and a large stack of books. Everyone was working with a sort of frantic energy usually reserved for those avoiding death.

But, then again, saving the world from destruction at the hands of a race of alien conquerors was all in a days work at SGC.

"What have we got?" Captain Carter asked briskly, crossing the room with quick strides. Daniel followed her over to the group of soldiers, for, as 'senior officer' of the linguistics department, he was technically part of the command staff.

Having known about the troubles the two officers had faced in getting to the mountain, the General overlooked Carter's lapse of protocol. "What we have is an unidentified object that came through the 'Gate with SG-8's remote iris de-activator and a written threat."

As soon as the word written passed Hammond's lips, Daniel spoke up. "What did it say?" And in what language?

"'All bow before Ares, God of War. Any opposition to his divinity will be crushed. Your weapons pale before those that our Lord has gifted us.

Consider this a demonstration.' Just the usual drivel one would expect from worshipers of a war god," a voice from the other side of the room informed them.

Carter looked over toward the young woman who had spoken. She was fairly tall, with a tanned, muscular body and intense eyes. Hammond motioned toward the girl and said, "Captain Carter. Doctor Jackson. This is Doctor...."

"Lexi?" Daniel blurted, taking a step around Carter.

The woman-Lexi-smiled, saying, "Danny. Now's not the time." Then she turned to Carter and stuck out her hand. "Doctor Alexandria Cooper."

Choosing, for the time being, to ignore the fact that the two archaeologists knew each other, Hammond said, "We've yet to discover the reason the object was sent through the Stargate, so get on it people." It went un-said that he wanted some answers. Immediately.

Carter looked from Daniel to Alexandria once again before maneuvering herself to a science station. She obviously knew she was going to run into Daniel, but he's totally in shock she thought, smiling to herself about Jackson's confused expression. "All right,"

she said practically. "Let's review information and options."

Tugging gently on Daniel's arm, Cooper took up a position at Carter's elbow. As usual, the crisis team broke into two groups, Hammond leading the military team and Carter heading up the science department. Glancing over at the general, who was talking none too kindly to the three majors, she thought, For once, I'm glad I'm out of that particular loop of information.

"'Beware the Greeks; Even when they come bearing gifts.'" Alexandria said softly, leaning over the computer image of the object for the thousandth time in four hours.

Slowly she rotated her head, trying to work the crick out, thinking, I should know how to deal with this. It reeks of a Trojan Horse.

Standing directly behind Cooper, Daniel placed his right hand at the base of her neck and rubbed softly. He could hardly believe she was here, but she had been right that it wasn't time for a long explanation. She'd tell him eventually and that was good enough for him. "But what is inside this horse?" he asked, sensing exactly what was going through

Alex's mind. One of the benefits of being almost siblings.

"And do we have to leave it unattended for the invaders to come out in force?" she shot back, tapping one neatly trimmed nail against the image on the screen.

Carter, thinking strictly along scientific lines by this point, looked up at the two archaeologists as though they had each grown a second head.

Okay, Greek reference, I can understand, but why are they talking about horses. And where do they see intruders? "What are you two talking about?"

she asked, not even bothering to mask her confusion. After all, she was the only non-expert on Ancient Greece working in their little group since Dr. Schultz had made a strategic retreat.

With a small shrug, Cooper glanced at Daniel. It was he who said, "Brain-storming, Sam. Greeks...Trojan Horse...Siege of Troy..."

"Oh," Sam breathed, realizing that the archaeologists' nearly insensible babble had actually made sense. This is strange, she thought, watching the pair contemplate things, thinking it's Daniel and I that baffle others with intellectual brainstorming. Who is this person encroaching on my territory? "So, you're thinking the Greeks are going to wait for

Troy to stand down before attacking. Makes sense."

"But how does this help us?" Daniel retorted, questioning his own theory.

Over the years, Sam had learned that it was his way of testing the veracity of an idea.

Poking the screen again, Alexandria said, "Captain Carter, if the enemy is waiting for the object to be ignored, would our presence in the room with the object set it off?"

Sam shook her head. "No," she replied. "If anything, additional people in a room with the object should delay...whatever. If your theory is correct." And that's a big if.

As she spoke, Daniel locked his gaze on Sam. "So we can use the 'Gate without problems."

Shaking her head softly, Sam smiled at the scientists. "That theory will get us into the 'Gate room," she said in surprise, "But we still won't be able to touch the object."

"Especially from the other side of the Stargate," Alexandria murmured, eyes on the ceiling as she again stretched her neck.

"Excuse me?" Carter said loudly. Does she know something I don't?

Alexandria blinked rapidly. "Don't you know? Hammond wants you two and...Teal'c to go after SG-8 with Louis' team. He said that as soon as it was determined that use of the Stargate was safe, you were going... off world."

With a groan, Carter looked at Daniel. "I don't suppose you paid attention to a part of the conversation I obviously missed?" At his negative response, she waved her arms to usher the scientists from the room.

General Hammond stood at the head of the briefing table, resting his knuckles on the polished wood. Slowly, he surveyed the occupants of the room. Major Ferretti sat at the other end of the table, looking doubtfully at the gathering of scientists. Carter, Jackson and Cooper had burst in mere minutes ago, spouting academic and strategic theory,

and, once finished, had taken up positions along the far wall. Captain Porter Allen, the only member of Ferretti's SG team that had been able to make it to the base during the storm, stared at them with the same expression as his major. From his position by the door, Teal'c watched the entire scene with interest, but managed to keep his face

expressionless.

"People, we have a situation here," he announced needlessly. Then he looked over at the scientists sharply. "According to Captain Carter, the object is going to wait until we stand down to attack. Which means activating the Stargate shouldn't cause a problem.

Major, you will take a team consisting of Captains Allen and Carter, Teal'c and Doctor Jackson through to PX3468. Locate SG-8 and determine if the inhabitants pose any further threat. Do not engage unless attacked. The jump will be in one hour. Any questions."

Like good SG officers, most everyone kept their mouths shut. Even Jackson nodded without a word, quietly holding his side. Hammond was pleased, but that was short lived.

"I'd like to go, General," Alexandria said, looking at the general with bright, wide eyes.

Hammond frowned. "Doctor, this is not a little excursion. I am sending a reconnaissance and rescue mission to a planet that has already proven hostile. Do you understand that?"

Cooper smiled faintly. "I know that," she said firmly, crossing slim arms across her stomach. "I also know that I have more expertise in Ancient Greece than even Daniel does. You may need that knowledge over there."

"She's right, sir," Daniel added, glancing at the pretty brunette. "She focused on the Greeks. I was Ancient Egypt."

Ferretti and Allen were waiting to see what Hammond's decision was going to be, while Carter quizzed Teal'c on O'Neill's condition. Daniel seemed split between the two conversations. Hammond looked troubled. Clearly, he wanted to give his team every edge on the unknown, but he had to weigh that against sending an inexperienced civilian into a possible combat situation.

"I'll take it into consideration," he said, unwilling to deny her completely, then paused for her to push the issue.

To his surprise, she simply nodded at him. "Thanks."

Not one to question good luck, the general barked, "Okay, people, go. Departure is in one hour."

The meeting immediately broke up, officers and scientists heading off to prepare. Teal'c, Carter and Jackson all headed for the infirmary for a quick visit with their colonel. Unsure, Cooper followed them. As their voices faded, Hammond smiled, hearing Alexandria say, "Hey. What did you do to your side? Daniel, why are you holding your side?"

It was then that he decided that she might as well start participating sooner, rather than later. That had worked out fairly well with Jackson.

After all, he was still alive.

"You three are going on a mission with Ferretti?" Jack O'Neill said, leaning back on a pile of pillows on his bed. On the original Stargate mission, Ferretti had not gotten along well with Jackson and despite the fact that they were friends now, he had to tease the academic. Spearing Daniel with a look, he waggled his finger lightly. "Leave the books here this time."

The only person present that got the joke was Jackson, who was on an examination table across the room. Despite Fraser's continual prodding of his injury, the archaeologist smiled. "Don't worry, Jack," he said lightly, then tossed a look at Cooper. "Lexi's a walking encyclopedia of Greek knowledge.

Ferretti wouldn't dare throw her down a dune."

"Why would Louis Ferretti throw Doctor Cooper down a dune?" Teal'c asked earning a round of laughter from Carter, Jackson and O'Neill. Cooper and Fraser were too busy looking at Daniel's laceration to catch the question.

Deciding to head off Teal'c's second question, and, knowing that they weren't going anywhere until Fraser finished with Daniel's side, Carter took the opportunity to ask the question that had been on her mind for a while. "So, how do you two know each other?" she asked, looking from Daniel to Alexandria. Teal'c, Jack and Janet all tilted their heads,

indicating their interest as well.

Daniel made an attempt to shrug, but lying prone on a table was not conducive to that particular action. "Her family was my foster family," he said innocently. "We were always being told we were more alike than most blood relatives."

"It was the affinity for ancient cultures," Alexandria put in, peering at his wounded side unhappily. "And what's this about throwing me down a dune?"

"You had to be there," Jack laughed. "You really had to be there."

The team was dressed in battle fatigues, waiting as the 'Gate spun for its destination. In addition to regular battle kit--the uniform of the day was jungle camouflage for some reason--they had a motorized battle cart. The cart, the size of a sport-utility vehicle without the top half, was loaded with weapons and ammunition as well as other, more

mundane supplies. Stenciled on the side was the cryptic acronym FRED.

Ferretti had personally made sure that there was lots and lots of extra ammunition.

In the background, technicians and soldiers did mysterious things, and they could hear a voice announcing, "Chevron Five, encoded."

Cooper looked at the small, alien object that a group of technicians had moved off of the ramp and onto a nearby table. That thing feels even more alien than the gun on my thigh, she thought glancing about. Being surrounded by soldiers and at least a few totally alien objects was making her more nervous than she was willing to let on. Get it together,

Cooper.

No one else looks nervous.

That was true enough. Teal'c and Allen stood over by FRED both gripping their weapons with an ease born of practice. Between the two of them they carried five hand-guns, four heavy duty knives, eight grenades, an M-16, a staff weapon, a zat gun and a shoulder mounted rocket launcher. Alex figured if the Stargate thing ever came to an end, the pair of them could team up and make a good living invading small European countries.

Daniel and Sam stood over by the table that held the alien object. The captain was holding out a small hand scanner, trying to find out more about the object. Ever the curious soul, Jackson was leaning over the object and studying the inscriptions. He looked a bit uncomfortable, but Alex knew it was the tight bandages around his middle that distressed him, (Fraser had reluctantly cleared him to go on the mission, but had

bound his side with a large elastic/cotton bandage. It would now be next to impossible for him to tear his stitches, but if anyone could, it would be Daniel.), not the fear that the object might explode in his face. Still the same old Daniel.

"Chevron Six, encoded." The room began to shudder and a roar that was felt more than heard began to build.

Ferretti came over to stand by her side and she offered him a shaky smile.

The easy-going major returned the smile, but his was far more steady than hers. "Nervous, Alex?" he asked softly, reaching over to adjust the chin strap on her helmet.

Indignantly, she said, "No," then paused and held up her wrist. "What is this again?"

Touching the device on her wrist, Louis said, "That's your remote Iris de-activator. You use the code we gave you earlier before you return to Earth so you don't wind up a pancake on the back of the Iris. That gets messy."

Alex paled slightly, then realized that he was trying to make her laugh.

Reaching out, she hit him gently on the arm. "I'll show you messy..."

"Chevron Seven, locked."

A fountain of blue light, quantum particles as disciplined as water, blasted into the room with a final roar, reaching nearly to the bottom of the ramp where Teal'c and Allen stood. The pair were much calmer than Cooper. The funnel snapped backward, through the back of the 'Gate, and the leveled off, a shimmering pool of blue and white.

"Good luck," Hammond said from the control room as the team fell into place on the ramp. A man used to being in command, Ferretti waved his arm and said, "Let's get going people."

With Allen holding the remote control for FRED, he, Teal'c and the cart moved up the ramp. The pair marched steadfastly through the 'Gate, though Allen did squeeze his eyes shut.

Carter and Daniel followed them up, but Daniel paused. "You okay, Lexi?"

he asked, standing before the Stargate, framed in blue. Sam was a few steps closer to the 'Gate, and stopped to wait for Daniel.

Nodding bravely, Alexandria said, "I'm fine, Danny. You go ahead."

Jackson smiled at his sort-of-sister, then turned back to the swirling blue maw. "See you on the other side," he finished as both he and Carter stepped into the 'Gate.

Full of resolve, Cooper moved up the ramp beside Ferretti. She paused momentarily before the 'Gate and brushed her fingers over the shimmering surface. It must take so much energy to generate this, she thought, glancing at Louis, who looked expectantly at her. Swallowing, she stepped forward, knowing she would step out onto another world.

The reports about passage through the Stargate did nothing to prepare Alexandria for the light, the stars, the sensation of weightless spinning in a vortex of color, flipping up and down and end over end like a sparrow caught in a force ten hurricane, so cold that she felt

her insides would shatter, so dizzy--- It was all she could do, as she stumbled out of the 'Gate, not to throw up.

Thankfully, when Alex finally managed to get her bearings and open her eyes, she saw that the room she landed in was pitch black. "Which pocket is my flashlight in?" the archaeologist muttered, patting the many pockets of her fatigues in an attempt to locate the item.

A pair of larger hands came to rest atop her own and, after a moment, Alex realized it was Daniel. I can smell his soap, she thought with a smile.

He's still using that lavender and honey stuff from India. "What pocket, Daniel?"

"Your infrared goggles are in the right breast pocket," he told her, watching her fumble with the snaps on her uniform. It struck him as funny to see his usually composed sister at a loss. "The goggles are better than a flashlight, believe me."

Fishing the item out of her pocket, Alex slipped them onto her face. When she continued to see nothing but darkness, she muttered, "I think they're broken."

Daniel bit back a laugh and reached over, flicking a switch on the top of the glasses. Poor Lexi. Didn't get anything in the line of training for this did you?

Shades of bright green and black popped up before Alex's eyes, momentarily blinding her. Then she focused and found that she was able to see quite well with the goggles on. "Well, this is new and different."

"You'll get used to it," Daniel said, patting her on the shoulder.

Climbing gingerly to his feet, he nodded toward a large wall. "Let's get to work."

Alex stood up with him, looking around the room. Carter, Teal'c, Ferretti and Allen were very obviously searching the room for any sign of danger or SG-8. The wall Daniel was headed for appeared to be covered in carvings, which, according to every curious archaeological bone in her body, dictated she get over there to translate it.

After a moment of staring at the wall, Daniel glanced at her, brow furrowed. "This makes no sense."

Snorting her agreement, Alex crossed her arms. "It looks like a child wrote it."

Finishing her circuit of the room in time to hear their comments, Carter moved to stand by the two doctors. "So you two can't read the writing?"

she asked, somewhat unnerved. It was a very rare day when Daniel couldn't decipher something.

"Isn't it the same as was on the object?"

Glaring at the wall, Daniel shook his head. "It is the same language, all right, and, yes, we can read it."

"It simply isn't pertinent," Alex concluded. "Who cares when Argo was here?"

The words weren't even past Alex's lips when Daniel snorted, receiving an exasperated look from Cooper and a curious one from Carter. "It's graffiti, Lexi. Ancient Greek graffiti."

"Lovely," Alex muttered, drawing a smile from Carter with her tone.

The rest of the team soon returned to the wall. "Anything useful here?"

Ferretti asked, continuing to look around cautiously.

"No," Daniel replied quickly, preempting the sarcastic, probably vulgar, comment was about to tumble out of Alex's mouth. "Nothing relevant."

With a nod, the major said, "Let's go find our people then. This is a good a place to start as any."

As the group began down the hall that they suspected would lead to the outdoors, Alex nudged Daniel. "Why didn't you tell him that one of those signs read 'Call Alyssia for help'?" she whispered teasingly. Damn goggles don't let me see if he's blushing.

"You know what kind of help that means. Besides that carving showed significant wear. I'd guess it was a century old."

"Still, imagine the reaction...."

Okay, so watching Ferretti turn purple and sputter would be funny...Focus, Daniel. Mission. "Well, there is that...but we're on a mission. Levity in these situations isn't...."

"What are you two whispering about?" Carter asked, eliciting startled yelps from both doctors.

Looking at each other, resembling guilty school children more than brilliant academics, the scientists chorused, "Nothing."

Sam looked at them for a moment and shook her head. Oh, this is going to be a fun trip. I can already tell.

When the team emerged from the old temple in which the Stargate was ensconced, they found themselves in a dense forest. The air was warm and moist, with a dewy smell that indicated early morning, as did the low hanging suns.

Quickly pulling off the infrared glasses, Sam Carter looked around at the towering trees. The vegetation would provide ample cover were they to be forced into a fire fight. Conversely, it would also provide a wonderful opportunity for the natives to ambush a team unfamiliar with the lay of the land. That's probably how they took SG-8. We'd better be careful."

As she thought that, Daniel wandered forward, hopping down the steps with more grace than he usually exhibited. Alexandria moved over toward one of the outer walls, as Ferretti, Allen and Teal'c established a perimeter.

Carter herself was busy using the instrumentation on FRED to get a more accurate survey of their surroundings.

Air, breathable with a little more nitrogen than we're used to. Soil and water, non-toxic. Evidence of non-sentient life. Well, we know there is sentient life. Motion scanners show no significant movement nearby.

Looking up from the readouts, Sam waved to Ferretti.

When the major was close enough, she said, "Air, soil and water all check out, sir. No movement detected in the immediate vicinity." But, as you know, the scan has been wrong before.

Ferretti closed his eyes for a moment and frowned. "We need to figure out which way....Hey! Daniel, don't go where we can't see you!"

Turning back, Daniel waved a hand. What does he think I'm going to do?

Wander off and fall into a hole? Whoa! Where'd that trench come from?

"Don't worry.

I know the drill."

"That doesn't quite reassure me," Ferretti mumbled to Carter, who cracked a grin.

"It shouldn't, sir."

"You're a lot of help. Any idea which direction SG-8 headed out in?" he returned, moving around so that he could read FRED's data screen.

Carter shook her head unhappily. "Unfortunately, this equipment can't tell us that," she replied. "We'll have to do it the old fashioned way.

Look for foot prints."

"Jack will be sorry he missed this mission," the major grumbled, then turned out to look at the scattered members of his team. Waving his arms, he called, "Everyone, over here."

Within moments, Allen and Teal'c stood on the other side of the cart.

Jackson arrived shortly thereafter, having been careful of his footing over by some trees. Only Cooper did not return. Nervously, Ferretti glanced around, thinking, Don't tell me I lost someone who was only ten feet away from me. "Doctor Cooper?"

"I'm here," she said, startling most of the team. Her voice, Ferretti realized, had come from somewhere up above him. Looking up, he sighed heavily. Now I know they don't teach common sense at archaeologist school.

Alex had somehow climbed up the outer wall of the structure that housed the Stargate. She clung to the wall about thirty feet off the ground and appeared to be studying a carving. She was supported by only the hand and foot-holds she had found, and Ferretti was ready to call her down when she spoke.

"Good news. The people here worship gods other than Ares. This is a prayer to Hermes." Then she turned her head to look down at them. "Which means they were just posturing with that box...Daniel, you look sick. What's wrong?"

"Get down from there," he said weakly, and Carter smiled slightly. Daniel was not the biggest fan of heights and seeing Alex up on the wall obviously bothered him.

The brunette smiled and quickly scurried down. Ferretti looked at her seriously and said, "Don't try that again without a spotter. We don't want anyone breaking bones before we even get started." He paused to look at the team. "All right, people, we've got to look for footprints or any other signs of SG-8. If you locate tracks, wait for the rest of the team to join you before starting out. Everyone clear?"

"There are tracks over by that trench," Daniel said, pointing toward the trees he had been inspecting. Everyone stared at him until he shrugged.

"You didn't give me an opportunity to say anything until now."

Sighing again, Ferretti motioned with his head. "Okay, people, that-a-way."

Captain Porter Allen hated hikes. As a good officer, he could endure them well, but there was simply something about walking and not knowing where you were going that bothered him. Of course, he'd never share that information with anyone, especially people who seemed to enjoy endless treks.

At point, Major Ferretti and Teal'c crossed the terrain at a ground-eating pace. Neither seemed bothered by the loose dirt, roots, or rocks. They both held their weapons at ready as though they expected the enemy to jump out at any time.

Behind them, Jackson and Carter walked side by side, talking quietly.

From the snatches of conversation Allen caught, he thought they were discussing Greece and gods, interspersed with an occasional question about the archaeologists wounded side. After a time, he got the impression that Daniel was getting tired of having a babysitter.

Cooper had walked with them for a while, but had dropped back a bit.

Occasionally, she would slow to inspect a root or tree or rock as if it had a particular meaning, but she kept up with the group.

Oh well, he thought glumly There are worse things that I could be doing.

Truth in point, following Cooper's swinging hips and braid was not too bad.

It was definitely a better view than what the drill instructors at boot camp provided.

Laying just below the horizon line of a rolling hill, Ferretti swore softly. As his team had crested the hill, they found a large village spread out before them. The size alone was enough to make the major uncomfortable, and the number of people he saw through his binoculars bothered him even more.

Carter frowned in commiseration as she heard Ferretti's off color comments. She to saw the military concerns that the village presented.

"Doesn't look too good, does it, sir?" she said softly, though it was highly improbable that the natives could hear them.

With a grunt, Ferretti glanced at the two archaeologists, both of whom were holding binoculars up to their faces. He complains if he bumps that side back at the base, but in the field, he commando crawls without trouble. Jack was right. The man's brain does not process any extra sensory information when he's thinking. Too weird. "Anything from the

academic quarter?" he asked, hoping, quite irrationally, that they would be able to tell him something about the military capabilities of the natives.

"Reminiscent of the Archaic Period...." Cooper said without looking up.

Daniel immediately added, "Which means about 800-400 BC....That's appropriate considering the writing...."

"And the stone temples. Age of Homer...."

"And Hoplite fighting.."

"Okay. Fighting. Go with that Daniel," Ferretti said, knowing that if he didn't get the scientists focused they would get so far lost in theory ozone that they would be useless. If they focused, at least he might be able to get some strategic information out of them. Five sentences or less. Come on, Danny.

"Basically," Daniel replied, knowing that the major was trying to get a short, simple answer out of him, "Hoplites fought in a Phalanx style.

Several rows of warriors with shields and spears would stand in a group and just skewer their opponents. It was fairly effective."

"So long as you don't mind sacrificing your first flank of warriors," Alex concluded, putting down her binoculars and looking over at Ferretti. "Do you really think Hoplite fighting will still apply, given the technology of the box that came through the Stargate?"

Daniel packed his own binoculars back into his pocket and said, "We actually don't know anything about the box. It could be just a gold box...."

"Or it might be an explosive that could level Creek Mountain and several of the surrounding towns." Carter finished Daniel's thought and watched as Alex's face paled. Ooops, think I spoke too frankly. Hastily, she added, "Of course, that's just a theory."

Ferretti pushed his sunglasses up on his nose and sighed, having lost interest in the conversation after Daniel's explanation of Hoplite fighting. This is what I get for having half a team with more degrees than they have fingers. "So, what you're telling me is...nothing, right?"

Exchanging slightly guilty looks with Jackson and Cooper, Carter said, "Basically, sir."

"Okay," he grumbled, then waved to Allen and Teal'c, who were further down the rise, motioning them to join the group at the crest of the hill.

Quickly, the two men moved forward on knees and elbows, keeping low enough to stay under the cover of the tall grass. As he took up a position between Daniel and Alex, Allen asked, "What's the plan, sir?"

"The plan," Ferretti said firmly, hoping no one else caught on to the fact that his plan was a really, really bad plan, "is to get closer to the settlement without being noticed, then do some recon. Everyone clear?"

When the rest of the team indicated the affirmative, the major nodded.

"Time to go native."

Sitting against the wall of a cluttered alley, Ferretti, Carter, Allen and Teal'c kept a sharp look-out as Jackson and Cooper listened to the conversations of passersby. Both linguists had their heads cocked to one side, and occasionally could be heard muttering amongst themselves.

Basic Greek, Daniel thought with relief. But the vowel sounds are off.

"Eumoge? Umagie?" That's it.

Daniel's eye's regained their focus, and immediately he saw Alex looking over at him. "Adjust for the glottle stops and we'll be fine," she said, voicing both their thoughts.

"So, you two can speak the language," the major said with a relieved nod.

"Now we have to find some native clothing...."

"And some hair dye," Alex added, a trace of sarcasm flavoring her voice. "Has anyone else noticed the significant lack of the pigmentally challenged around here?"

"What?" Ferretti asked, turning an odd look at the young woman. Note to self: Ask Jack how he deals with Carter and Jackson on a daily basis.

Surprisingly, it was Allen who said, "Pale blondes, she means pale blondes." The captain ran a hand through his close-cropped strawberry blond hair. "I haven't seen any Ja'fa either."

Daniel looked around at the team. Teal'c was a Ja'fa, so obviously he wouldn't be able to blend into the native population. Ferretti had sandy blond hair, Carter's hair was a shade of sun-spun gold and Allen was nearly a carrot-top. Only Alex and I have dark hair. "Well, this isn't good."

Oh hell, Ferretti thought. This is not my day. Clearing his throat, the major steeled himself to say what was necessary. "Do you two think you can do a little recon without any immediate back-up?"

Taking the idea in stride, Daniel nodded confidently. His time with SG-1 had given him experience in such situations, and, even though he wasn't a soldier, he knew that risk was part of the job. All we have to do is look around. That won't be too hard.

Alex had none of his experience, and looked a understandably nervous.

Nevertheless, she squared her shoulders and said, "Let's go find some clothes."

Still confined to the infirmary, Jack O'Neill was getting ready to rend the bed sheets with his bare hands. He was irritated that his mind was functioning again, but his body seemed reluctant to obey his orders to heal. The walls and ceiling had long ago lost their whatever small amount of his interest they had managed to capture.

At one point, not too long after SG-1 Gated off world, he had tried to make an escape. It was a stunning failure, for one of Fraser's nurses, Simon Hurst, a tall man built more like a professional wrestler than a health care provider, saw him in the hall while the colonel was trying to catch his breath. To make matters worse, Janet had lectured him about

listening to doctor's orders and then assigned her hulking subordinate to keep an eye on their reluctant patient.

"Colonel O'Neill?" A hesitant voice originating from the area of the doorway asked.

Jack looked up and saw Lieutenant Graham Timmons watching him nervously.

Realizing that his expression was not one that encouraged people to be calm around him, O'Neill relaxed his facial muscles and said, "Yes, Lieutenant?"

Holding a laptop before himself like a shield, Timmons stepped into the room. "I thought you'd like to be able to keep on top of Ferretti's team's progress, sir," the young airman said tentatively. "Shall I set this up for you?"

"By all means, Lieutenant," Jack said, breaking into a genuine grin.

Finally, I'll be able to get some information that hasn't been sanitized by Atilla the Nurse or Dr. Demento.

The dark haired Lieutenant quickly went about situating the computer on the bedside table and then plugging the machine in. "There you go, sir.

Now you'll be able to monitor any new information that comes through the Gate."

Tossing a glance at Timmons as he typed in his access code, O'Neill asked, "Did the general send this down here, Airman?"

Timmons shook his head. "No, sir. I just..." He paused to look around, and, seeing both Doctor Fraser and Nurse Hurst in the office next door, continued, "I just remember how utterly bored I was when they kept me down here for a week."

"You'd think they'd install a TV or something with all the time people spend down here," Jack added, agreeing with the younger man without hesitation. "SG-1 alone has probably spent a few months down her total."

Nodding, Timmons glanced at the TV/VCR setup that the general had brought in to show O'Neill the tape of Cooper. "Doesn't that work, sir?"

"No cable."

"I'll see what I can do."

"Are we really going to do this, sir?" Carter asked, watching Daniel and Alexandria adjust the native clothing Allen had 'found' for them. The captain was uncomfortable sending the two academics off to do something that should have been done by an officer. If Daniel hurts his side while he's out there, who knows what will happen.

Ferretti sighed. "I don't like this any more than you do, Captain," he told her, then smiled crookedly. "Hell, I'd even wear one of those dresses if it meant we didn't have to send them out there alone."

From where he stood, adjusting the top of the off-white garment he wore, Daniel said, "For the last time, this is not a dress. It's called a chiton. The shoulder clips hold the back and front pieces together and it's gathered at the waist by a belt."

"Obviously," Alexandria remarked dryly, arranging the burgundy ribbons in her hair, "this world has yet to produce a Vera Wang, or even an Eddie Bauer."

Chuckling slightly, Carter regarded the pair. Daniel wore a chiton that reached his knees, with a twine belt wrapped around his middle. The loose fabric of the clothing hid the bandages on his side, as well as the knife and guns that Ferretti managed to attach to the dressing. Alex wore a burgundy chiton that brushed her toes, and her hair was held atop

her head with matching ribbons. She too was armed in case of an emergency, and had a remote iris deactivator taped to her stomach. Well, they do look like the natives.

"Doctors," Allen said from his position by the lip of the alley. "The coast is clear."

Cooper and Jackson both looked over at Ferretti who nodded. "Good luck, you two," the major said with false good humor. "Meet back here in two hours."

With a nod, Daniel put his hand under Alex's elbow and pulled her toward the street. As he passed Sam, he tossed her a slight grin. Okay, pretend to be brave so she won't be worried. "Can't wait to tell Jack about this one," he said aloud, referring to the colonel's overprotective attitude about him. He hoped that would deter her from her own concern by its parallel.

Carter cracked a small smile of her own and Teal'c said, "Perhaps you should not inform Colonel O'Neill about certain aspects of this mission until he has finished healing."

Pausing a moment, Daniel seemed to consider the Ja'fa's suggestion. Then he shook his head. "Nah. Why let him leave the infirmary just to send him back when he pops a blood vessel? Janet would kill us."

"Doctors?" Allen asked again, still cautiously watching the street.

This time Cooper tugged Daniel towards the road. "Come on, Daniel. Let's find that missing team. You can play with your friends later."

Amidst a jostling, shouting crowd, Alexandria gripped Daniel's hand tightly. Not long after leaving the rest of their group, the pair had happened upon what appeared to be a town meeting. Considering themselves lucky, they had remained with the crowd, only to discover a near riot forming around them.

What is going on? Alex thought unhappily as her back collided with a stone wall. Daniel, tethered to her by a strong arm, was quick to join her, basking in the relative safety the wall offered. "Daniel," she said softly, "I don't think...."

The roar of the crowd halted abruptly and, as one, everyone looked up at the large slab of marble that was cooling Alex's back. Quickly, the two archaeologists followed their gazes, then gaped in surprise.

Atop the platform stood a gorgeous woman with golden hair. Her alabaster skin shone in the bright sunlight, barely obscured by the gauzy fabric that was attempting to pass itself off as her chiton. Oh great, Alex thought, as Daniel's hand, which he had placed on her upper arm as they turned, tightened its grip. This isn't a good time to get hormonal.

"Hello," the woman purred in Greek, then moved around on the platform, looking down as if inspecting something at her feet. "As usual, your devotion pleases me."

At her words, the crowd relaxed and once again began mingling. Daniel's fingers, however, continued to dig painfully into Alex's arm. Glancing in his direction, she saw that he still stared at the woman. By this point though, it was obvious that the woman was making him very nervous, and not in a good way.

Of course, the glowing stone that seemed to be attached to the woman's stomach was enough to make most people nervous.

"You have pleased me so much as of late," the woman continued, twirling about on the dais, "That there will be a celebration tonight! In honor of my new...friends."

She waved a hand and the crowd parted, revealing the four members of SG-8.

The men appeared unharmed and they still had their weapons, but they appeared to be very docile. Their expressions were also those of men very pleased with themselves.

What's wrong with them? Why aren't they putting up a fight? Alex tried to imagine the reasons for their actions, but was having trouble doing so.

"Daniel?" she murmured, filling that one word with many questions and meanings.

"Look at her amulet," he said softly, then nodded through the crowd at a man by SG-8. "And his."

Squinting with eye's still unused to contact lenses, Alex stared hard at the woman. Suddenly, things came into focus, causing the archaeologist to gasp. "Aphrodite and Ares!"

"This day just keeps getting better and better."

"So, we have two Gao'uld to deal with instead of one," Ferretti said as Daniel and Alex hurriedly told him what they had seen and the later sketched a map of the town on the ground. "That complicates things. Did you notice anything else?"

Cooper shook her head, but Daniel cleared his throat. "Um, yes, I did notice something. It's not exactly helpful, but you need to know."

Looking at the doctor, who seemed very uncomfortable with what he was about to say, Carter urged, "What is it, Daniel?"

Oh, hell, this is hard. "Well, I'm fairly certain Aphrodite is the same type of Gao'uld as Hathor," he blurted, then waited for the responses that a statement like that was sure to draw.

"Oh, wonderful."

"That is not good news."

"Hathor...great."

"Not again."

"Hathor? As in, 'Egyptian goddess of fertility, inebriation and music', Hathor?"

The responses that came from Carter, Teal'c, Ferretti, Allen and Alex were exactly what he expected from them. Though most of the team knew about Hathor (and dreaded ever running into her again), Alex hadn't been with the project when Hathor made her appearance.

To save Daniel from what probably would have been a long, halting and embarrassing explanation, Sam took it upon herself to tell the abridged story of Hathor's visit to Stargate Command.

"Hathor was found in a sarcophagus in a Mayan temple. She killed the two scientists that released her and then made her way to the SGC. Using a sort of super pheromone, she gained control of the minds of every male on the base.

Other than Teal'c, that is. Only the women proved immune to her spell. We tried to kill her, but she escaped through the Stargate," Carter said, summing up all the pertinent details.

Daniel relaxed as Sam concluded her story. Thanks for leaving out some of the details, Sam, he thought uneasily. Some of the emotional scars from what Hathor did were still tender. He hated the fact that she had controlled him like a puppet and clouded his mind, made him think that she loved him and he her. Aloud, he simply said, "So we can't get too

close to her without getting...stupid."

In full command mode, Ferretti crouched over the map. "Right, then we have three teams. Teal'c and myself will come in from here," he said, jabbing a finger at the maps north corner. "Carter and Jackson will start in from here." He then indicated a Southeastern part of the sketch. "Allen and Cooper from here."

This time, he motioned to the south west. "We'll strike tonight, during the celebration you mentioned. 20:00, to give ourselves time to get into position. When we go in, Carter, Teal'c and Cooper will get in close and get SG-8. Daniel, Allen and myself will hang back and provide cover fire. It's time to get into it."

Given that they were closest to their position of attack, Jackson and Carter found themselves reaching their marks long before their comrades.

The forest to the Southeast of the town was thick and green, like most other parts of the planet they had seen, and the pair chose to spend the few hours before the attack by a small stream.

Still garbed in his native attire, Daniel sat on one of the large roots that extended from a large tree. From the root across from him, Sam watched her friends pensive expression and sighed. He's still thinking about Hathor, she reasoned. Though he didn't talk about it, she was certain the manipulative goddess had used less than sterile means of getting a genetic sample from the archaeologist. The thought of facing something like her was obviously not doing him any good.

Distraction time. "Daniel, how come you never mentioned Alex?" she asked, truly curious. "I seem to recall you telling Jack specifically that you didn't have a sister."

Her tactic worked like a charm and Daniel smiled mirthfully at her. "Do you think I'd intentionally tell Jack that I have a beautiful sister?" he joked, then shook his head. "Actually, I thought she was dead."

"What?"

Daniel nodded and said, "Yes, she fell off a mountain in Brazil, then spent a couple living with a tribe thought to be extinct. I thought she was dead, and she came back to the States a few months after the first Abydos mission. Then it was her turn to think that I'd fallen off of the world."

Shaking her head in surprise, Sam said, "So, you've thought she was dead for years, and you barely reacted when you saw her this afternoon. You, Daniel Jackson, have been hanging around with hard-nosed military types for far too long!"

"Well, she was right when she said it wasn't the time for a big emotional scene," he replied reasonably. "Don't worry, Sam. After all this is over, there will be tears. Lots and lots of tears."

Sam smiled at him and wiped her brow with exaggeration. "Whew! That's a relief. It would be a shame if you got desensitized, Daniel. SG-1 needs a conscience. We need you."

The archaeologist blushed faintly. "I'm sure you'd be a better conscience than I, considering that I get the team into more trouble than anyone.

Most of the time, I'm just talking Jack out of fighting something I made angry," he said, joking to cover up the charming embarrassment her compliment caused him.

"Just take the praise graciously, Daniel," Sam told him, reaching over to squeeze his shoulder gently. Pick up a bit of Jack's self confidence, please. He's got more than enough to spare.

Raising his cobalt blue eyes to meet Sam's, Daniel smiled and placed his hand over hers. As it had in Washington, an easy feeling of camaraderie laced with a bit of unwanted, but not unpleasant, tension fell over them and Carter swallowed. Oh boy, this is so not the place for bonding.

Obviously, Daniel felt the same, for he applied gentle pressure to her hand for a moment and then stood up. Still holding Carter's hand, he pulled her upright as well. "Come on, Sam," he said softly, tapping a lean finger against the face of her watch. "We should get you into your native costume now, or you'll never be used to the skirt in time for the

assault."

Grinning slightly at Daniel's teasing tone, Sam pulled her hand from his grasp and struck a mock indignant pose. "Do you mean to suggest that I'm not the picture of grace and agility in a huge, bulky skirt?" she demanded, drawing a chuckle from her friend. Crossing her arms across her chest, she said, "Seriously, though, why do you get to wear a skirt--chiton--that you can walk in and I have to wear a sheet that could cover two king sized beds?"

As he shook out the violet fabric, Daniel replied, "For two reasons, actually. Number one, you don't want to attract any unnecessary attention, which you certainly would do in a short skirt...Don't give me that look. It's true. Also, the cloak on top of the chiton will hide

your hair color."

With an exaggerated sigh, Sam took the chiton from Daniel's hands. If I'm right, Daniel just paid me a rather off-hand compliment that sounded very male. Not an unpleasant idea. "Okay, I'll wear it, but if I trip over the hem...."

"If you trip on the hem, to quote Jack 'we're screwed.'"

"You do realize that you just quoted Jack, Daniel?"

"I know. If he finds out, I'll never live it down."

"Finally," Porter Allen mutterer, collapsing against a tree as he and Alexandria finally reached the co-ordinates from which they were to join the assault. They had hiked for about two hours before arriving, often times having to climb up and down trenches that were twenty feet deep. All in all, it had not been easy going.

Cooper tossed her pack on the ground by his feet and grinned in agreement.

The trip had not been pleasant, and usually she liked to hike. The all terrain travel must have been hell on Allen, who despised hiking from what she had seen. How did he survive basic training with an attitude like that? she wondered. "So we just wait until eight o'clock?"

Allen nodded slightly. "That's right, Doctor."

"It's just Alex, Captain," she replied, sitting down to unlace her boots.

Before starting out, she had changed back into fatigue pants, a T-shirt and boots, knowing traveling in a chiton was less than practical, but now she was eager shed the military issue clothing. They were far too new and stiff for her taste.

Looking over at the young woman, Allen considered just how different civilians were from military personnel. Here was Cooper--Alex--, a few hours before an assault and she was relaxed, unaware of the reality that was a battle. Might as well let her keep her illusions for a while longer, he thought. "My name's Porter."

Alex smiled softly. "I've always liked that name," she murmured, then looked up at the cerulean sky. "Think we're gonna die today, Porter?"

Her question surprised him with it's bluntness. Usually civilians, especially scientists, liked to dance around difficult topics, alluding to them in only the most oblique manner. Alex, apparently, was the exception to that rule. Still, he didn't want her to be nervous. "Nah. This attack's gonna be a cake-walk. No trouble at all."

"....So, then Jack went and got this really big fire hose and put it through the indow...you aren't listening, are you Teal'c?"

"I was listening, Major."

"But you weren't interested?" The pause was answer enough for him. "Only a few more miles to go. Then we get to fight."

"Good."

Shortly after dusk, the three teams of two slipped into the city. Each of them wore native attire, some with large hoods to cover their fair hair or Gao'uld symbols.

As expected, the city was alive with celebration. People danced in the streets, musicians played their music, and vendors passed sweet treats through the crowd. The smells of spices, sweet bread and sweat filled the air, an all together intriguing scent.

Sam slipped through the crowd with Daniel trailing behind her. She could see the marble dais, and a woman standing atop it. That's got to be Aphrodite, she thought, searching the crowd for the members of SG-8. When she located them, she saw that they were staring at the woman with nearly worshipful expressions. Yep, defiantly Aphrodite, and the guy by

SG-8 is probably Ares. Joy.

"Okay, Captain, move in." Ferretti's voice came to Carter over the tiny Comm link that rested in her ear.

Glancing back at Daniel, who had already taken up a position by a marble column, she noted that he had a clear shot on both Ares and Aphrodite. A few years ago he would have either stood out in the open, or behind something he couldn't shoot around, she thought as she moved through the crowd more quickly.

Just as she reached the area where SG-8 stood, Ares crumpled to the ground. Carter looked up to see Teal'c stepping over him without much care, so she turned to the now befuddle team. "This way, guys, follow me."

Before SG-8 could respond, a roar came from the general area of the dais.

From the sound, Carter knew Aphrodite had seen Ares fall. The woman stepped forward, hand outstretched, speaking in a language that was probably ancient Greek. To the dismay of everyone not captivated by her spell, the Gao'uld energy weapon on her palm began to glow with destructive power. Sam dodged a bolt of energy that sizzled past her head and collided with a wall. Oh, great, high stakes dodge ball.

Fortunately, Ferretti, Allen and Jackson chose that moment to open fire on the woman, preventing her from lobbing any more destructive attacks at those closer to her. Though able to form a shield around her body that prevented her from actually being hurt, their attack put Aphrodite on the defensive. While the woman was occupied, Sam and Teal'c began shepherding SG-8 out of the crowd, none of whom seemed interested in

stopping them.

Actually, that wasn't entirely true. One man, dressed in the outfit of a Horus Guard, charged at them. He was still about twenty feet away from the group when Alex appeared at his side, swinging a roundhouse kick into the man's stomach. An backhand to the base of the skull as he doubled over took the man out of play entirely.

Brushing her hands off on her Chiton, Alex hurried to join Carter, who raised her brows and commented, "Nice work."

"Thanks," the young doctor said, then cast a nervous glance at an obviously seething Aphrodite and grabbed the arm of one of the members of SG-8. "I think we should run now."

Couldn't agree more. Speaking into her own Comm link, Carter said, "We've cleared the crowd, sir. Let's get out of here."

"Affirmative," Ferretti replied. "Get going. We'll catch up to you."

Breaking into a trot, Carter ran towards the trees, a member of SG-8 in tow. The sergeant, whose name she was sure was Lucas, followed her without any protest. Cooper was having similar good luck with the soldier she was leading. The two men Teal'c was dragging along didn't look at all pleased, but somewhere in their addled brains they seemed to realize arguing with a driven Ja'fa was not worth the effort. They were

halfway to the Stargate by the time the rest of their team caught up with them. No one had been inclined to chase them very far into the forest, and, even with Daniel still favoring his injuries, the three men had out run those who had tried.

Still, no one let their guard down until they stepped through the Stargate, heading back to SGC.

"Amazing. Daniel came back from a mission without any new injuries."

Waiting for his required post-mission check up with everyone else who had been on PX3468, Daniel glared across the infirmary to where Jack was resting. "Oh, very funny."

Carter leaned against a wall and said, "I think we made it out of there with out anyone getting injured or sick, and we had a rookie with us."

"How'd I do?" Alex asked, looking up from the task she was trying to complete. While Doctor Fraser was examining SG-8, the archaeologist had taken it upon herself to check Daniel's side. He was not, however, cooperating with her in any manner and had so far managed to keep her from getting even his T-shirt off.

It was Ferretti who spoke up first, saying, "You did really well for your first mission. I think you still need a few briefings though on basic procedures and equipment though."

"I agree," Carter said. "Your instincts were good, but you should have shot that Horus Guard. If he had noticed your attack before you kicked him, he could have hurt you badly."

Allen nodded slowly. "Yeah, why didn't you shoot that guy?"

Focusing on Daniel's side with renewed interest, Cooper shrugged. "I learned how to kickbox so I wouldn't feel the need for a gun. I just didn't use it."

"Your hand to hand combat skills were adequate for today's purposes, doctor, but I would suggest using a weapon in the future," Teal'c said, surprising all the veteran officers present with, what was for him, an almost unbelievable number of words spoken at one time.

From his bed, O'Neill said, "Okay, who replaced Teal'c with a pod person…Pod Ja'fa."

As Teal'c began questioning what Jack meant by that comment and Allen and Ferretti attempted to explain the sarcasm to him, Sam moved over to help Alex with Daniel. Together, they managed to get him out of the T-shirt and unwrap the bandage from his side.

"You didn't tear your stitches, Daniel, but you bled a bit more" Sam said with a smile.

The injured archaeologist nodded distractedly at her, his eyes on Alex, whose face was faintly flushed. After a moment, he grinned slightly.

"Couldn't get the safety off your gun, could you, Alex."

Carter looked at the other woman who scowled good naturedly and grumbled, "Damn thing was stuck."

Her response set both Daniel and Sam chuckling, and Cooper made an exasperated gesture. "Hey, what did you expect? I've never even held a gun before today. At least I didn't throw the thing when it wouldn't work."

Doctor Fraser chose that moment to arrive at Daniel's side. "Okay, SG-8 is clean. Now I want to check on Doctor Jackson's side, then everyone be ready. Nurse Hurst will be doing the usual blood draws and other vitals."

Stepping back to let the doctor examine Daniel, Alex followed Sam over towards the imposing nurse. "We have to get a physical after every mission?" she asked, eyeing the large needle with distaste.

"Welcome to Stargate Command...."

THE END


End file.
